#i also might turn rbs off on this in a bit depending so this counts as a limited edition post :)

[lunar-fey]

TRANS GENDER CAT

[trappingguy]

Rules!

1. Themes will vary with this blog. Mystery Incorporated is PRETTY dark at times, so it’ll be what you expect there. To that end, dark themes, violence and maybe swearing.

I will try my best to tag everything. These will be under the format of swearing tw. If you’d like me to tag anything specific, don’t hesitate to ask through anon / inbox / im!

I don’t have any triggers but I do ask you tag all of your NSFW (sexual) content.

Mun is of age, and as such I won’t be writing anything of the sexual nature with minors.

2. I’m private, which means I only write with mutuals (this is for my own sanity / comfort; everyone’s cool!). I’ll write with canon, oc, and crossover characters.

Although I’m private, when it comes to following people, I’m selective. We don’t have to have known each other prior to write!

As for following back, I usually take a week tops to do so - but if you’ve hit up my promo, I go through that eventually.

If it’s a crossover, I have to know the fandom and be at least a little bit confident with it. This is so I’m able to work with you, our thread and have muse for it.

I follow the tag #trappingguy. If there’s anything you want me to see, like dash commentary, just tag that and x-kit will alert me of your post! I may respond to ic stuff ic stuff if I’m feeling it.

In that sense, I’m chill with dash shenanigans with most folk, not just mutuals!

Absolutely no godmodding. It ain’t fun, fam. If you’re not sure what this term means, do look it up. This includes powerplaying, metagaming, and other things of that nature. This applies especially in fights if they happen (I’m chance-based and hope that you are too).

I can be picky with OCs. But rest assured, if you’ve followed me/interacted with my promo, I’ll always give your pages a read.

Please don’t be offended if I don’t want to interact with you (and please don’t try to guilt me into doing so!).

I DON’T CARE ABOUT AESTHETICS. I just think they’re pretty. If you don’t use formatting or anything like that, or heck - even wanna’ just do iconless rp - I have no problem with it whatsoever! It’s you, your writing and your muse I care about!

3. Please don’t rush me for starters or responses.

PLEASE understand that I have blogs galore and my muse tends to fluctuate; this can mean I’m everywhere at once and can end up neglecting a blog or two. It’s nothing personal; you know how muses are!

I have a full-time job (and I’m trying to get into screenwriting in my off-time) so sometimes I’m scrapped for time or exhausted. I’m also an introvert who deals with anxiety and depression, thus that may affect how much / how often I roleplay. If I don’t get chance to respond to anything ic or ooc, it’s nothing personal! Promise!

Chances are, I’ve probably has seen that bit of interactivity and just haven’t gotten around to responding yet.

My roleplaying style being para/multi-para, I may take a while to respond. I hoard drafts like a dragon - it’s really just the motivation to write and ship those out.

I hoard asks, but sometimes can’t find muse or interest for all of them. If it’s been a month or two, generally assume I’m not interested / can’t find muse for it. You’re free to send another though!

I answer asks from anyone - personals, rp blogs and anons. I’ll answer non-mutual asks occaisonally but I won’t be making threads out of them

4. Shippings? If they’re of similar age, sure!

If I don’t happen to be interested, don’t force anything on my character.

I do not ship incestuous ships. Do NOT follow/interact if you do.

The ship has to have chemistry; I’m generally shipping trash, but if they don’t click, they don’t click, sorry.

This is a multi-ship blog, meaning there will be more than one ship without them conflicting with eachother.

If you want to ship and I already have a ship of your choosing going with a duplicate, please don’t hesitate to hmu! My ships aren’t exclusive and each character/relationship portrayal is unique to me!

Relationships are eternal until you deem otherwise. If you’re not interested in a ship anymore, just let me know!

5. Whilst I am of age, I’m not aiming for sexual content on this blog (and will not be dealing with fetishes). The occasional joke is fine, but anything beyond that makes me uncomfortable, and I typically don’t recommend pulling it with my character if you’re interacting with me. 

6. About reblogs…

I am not a meme source, and reblogs clog up my activity. Please reblog any memes you find on this blog from their SOURCE. The exception to this rule is if there is no source; go ahead.

I don’t feel comfortable with Personals reblogging my IC or OOC posts, so please don’t do that. If I put something in the fandom tags for whatever reason (bar promos), you’re free to, though.

This goes for my art too unless it has the tag ok to rb, but otherwise only the person I drew it for can reblog it. If you wanna’ reblog something, I DO put it on my art blog eventually!

A few times is fine, as it happens, but repeatedly breaking these rules will result in me soft blocking you.

I try to participate in reblog karma as much as I can, but always reblog from the source/a meme source.

If a post or ask is for you, you’re free to reblog it to save it though - but only if you’re an rp blog!

7. I’m a para / multi-para blog, novella if I’m adventurous and have time. Whilst I may roleplay crack threads with shorter responses, this does not apply to all threads I write. This means:

I write my replies as detailed as I can muster, and length can range from 1 paragraph to 6.

Short responses (such as one-liners) in more serious threads where I’ve written a decent deal can instantly kill my muse for that thread.

Whilst I’d prefer for partners to at least somewhat match my length, it’s entirely up to you - just try your best and make sure you give me enough to work with. ♡

If my muse happen to go nuts out of nowhere - like, overboard - don’t stress too much about matching him.

8. Threads! You can yeet asks, memes, and even starters at me if I’ve liked a call! I’ll obviously have my own you can like.

You’re free to like starter calls even if we’re not mutuals; I can check out your blog that way. I still only write starters for mutuals though.

Starter memes are the BEST way to interact me because they just yeet a prompt at my face and really help me write starters. If you see me reblog one, send one!

If you want a certain verse, lemme’ know! Otherwise, I’ll probably default to a post-canon verse.

If you want to turn an ask into a thread, go ahead!

I don’t recommend writing starters for me unless we’ve discussed something. I don’t like to leave anyone hanging.

Please don’t assume things about my muse. If you’re uncertain about things, ASK.

IMs are open to mutuals, if you want to do any in-depth plotting. I also have Discord if that’s more convenient for you!

For the moment, I’m sticking PRIMARILY to Mystery Incorporated canon with some other media sprinkled in. It’s just because Fred has a lot of media to cover and I haven’t binged his stuff yet.

9. Guidelines on mains and relationships:

If we’re mutuals and we interact a lot, you’re welcome to ask me if I’d like to be your main!

Please don’t be offended if I deny, though; I typically want to pick those I trust to be my mains as well as people I can comfortably write with.

Not limited to them! I roleplay with duplicates galore so don’t be afraid to hit me up if you want to interact!

Pre-established relationships are a-okay in my book; if you have an idea for a relationship between our muses we can work towards, hit me up! I reblog those pre-established relationship memes every so often too. Romantic relationships link back to the shipping guidelines.

Also, friendship/family/rivalry relationships are EXTREMELY valid to me - so don’t feel scared about asking for them!

10. If you have any issues, please let me know and hopefully we can resolve it!

Mun is actually super nice, so don’t be afraid to hit her up!

I am absolutely terrible with IMs and Discord. I either respond quickly or days later, depends on my mood. Social anxiety tends to interfere with this (and more recently exhaustion from work) - but honestly, if you’ve sent something, I’ve likely read it and just haven’t gotten around to it yet! It’s nothing personal; trust me!

Please leave me out of drama; I’m here to have a good time, as is everyone else, and it pains me to see people arguing.

This is a little different with callouts - if I see anything on dash pertaining to any problematic users, I will take it into consideration and rb it if I believe them to be harmful.

11. To retierate, I tend to follow those that:

Write para and whom I feel my muse would click with.

Seem chill? Tone can really intimidate me honestly.

Have rules and about pages! Knowing the boudaries of my rp partners is super important as well as their lovely muses! Sometimes rules are enough, though, if you’re going to write the about eventually.

Tag their nsfw.

Don’t have massive icons - ie, have rp icons that take up an entire text post like 500x500 or something. I don’t want to clog the dash and it’s tiring to resize them.

…also, if I follow your hub blog (provided it doesn’t double as a personal), it generally means I’m cool with any blogs that are attached to it.

12. On threads…

If you’re not interested in a thread anymore, and would like to drop it, please let me know! I’d feel terrible if we’re both not having fun with it or if partners feel overwhelmed with the amount of threads we have.

Honestly, unless I let you know, our threads have no expiry date - so no need to worry about me dropping them without telling you. I can just be quite slow sometimes.

13. Mun does not equal muse! Anything my muse might say does not reflect on how I think unless I explicitly say so.

14. Know that if I follow you, I WANT to interact with you.

I literally couldn’t care less about follower counts. I care about YOU guys and our interactions.

15. Icons.

I make all of my icons by myself, however credit for the icon shape and psd goes here and here.

16. Rules are subject to change.

Please like this post if you’ve read the rules! You don’t have to, but it’s of personal reassurance to me if you have.

[junker-town]

Matt Rhule was finally lured out of CFB by the Panthers. Will it work?

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Is Rhule the right man for the Carolina rebuild? Let’s talk it out.

For the past two offseasons, Baylor head coach Matt Rhule was one of the hottest names in NFL head coaching circles.

The offensive innovator had been a miracle worker in the college ranks. He inherited a Temple team that went 2-10 in his first season at the helm and guided it to back-to-back 10-win seasons before leaving for Waco for the Carolina Panthers (and a contract that could be worth up to a whopping $70 million). His first Bears team, still reeling from the mess Art Briles left behind, went 1-11 in 2017. By 2019 he was playing in the Big 12 title game and invited to the Sugar Bowl.

Rhule’s college career painted him as a fixer. Now the Panthers hope he can bring a similar turnaround to a franchise that’s had no issues with being good — but all sorts of problems when it comes to staying that way.

Hiring Rhule only fixes one of Carolina’s problems. He’ll inherit a team in flux. Team owner David Tepper has been slow to rebuild the club in his image after taking over in 2018, but firing Ron Rivera after nine inconsistent years was his first step. Releasing or trading former MVP Cam Newton, which would cost the team just $2 million in salary cap commitments tied to the final year of his contract in 2020, could be the team’s next step in an ongoing makeover.

This could be good news for Rhule, who’d not only get a fresh start in Charlotte, but also an expectation-free rookie year if Tepper opts for an all-out teardown. Without a top-10 pick in this year’s draft, however, it could also leave him stuck in franchise quarterback purgatory for the immediate future.

There are a lot of questions that remain about Rhule’s NFL future. Let’s try to answer them.

Should the Panthers keep Newton in 2020?

Christian D’Andrea: Yes. Newton will count $21.1 million against the salary cap next season and would save more than $19 million via release or trade. That’s a tantalizing option for a rebuilding team, but unless Rhule’s been brought in to oversee a Dolphins-esque tank in 2020, it’s worth it to keep Newton in town.

The 2015 MVP will head into his contract year theoretically 100 percent healthy after 11 months of rehab. That’ll give him the chance to put the past two underwhelming years behind him and, at 31 years old, convince teams he’s worth an expensive new deal. Pairing him with a head coach who turned Charlie Brewer (2017’s 826th-rated recruit) into a two-time 3,000-yard passer and an 11-game winner should only aid his comeback.

There’s a chance Kyle Allen and Will Grier can grow after ending 2019 on a down note, but right now neither looks like the quarterback of the future in Carolina. Give Newton the chance to prove himself in a year with zero expectations.

Morgan Moriarty: I think Carolina will end up keeping Newton for the reasons Christian listed above, but I’m not so sure it should. Yes, all signs point toward Newton being healthy next season, but with all the injuries he’s had throughout his career, it’s hard for me to see that as likely. In 2015, Newton rallied his team to a 15-1 regular-season record and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Since then, the Panthers have stagnated. In the last three-plus years, he’s an 23-23 as a starter. He missed the last two games of 2018 due to a shoulder injury before 2019’s lost campaign, too. If Tepper wants to completely clean house from the Rivera era, he’d be justified in letting Newton go.

That leaves two options for Carolina: riding with Kyle Allen/2019 third-round draft pick Will Grier, or picking up a free agent QB. Both scenarios could probably work out, considering Rhule has had some success with quarterbacks. Most recently, he helped Brewer throw for 7,742 yards and 51 touchdowns in three seasons in Waco. Rhule could probably work some similar magic with Allen, but if Carolina wants to pick up Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, or even a guy like Case Keenum, who might work out even better.

If Carolina opts to ride with Allen/Grier in 2020, that also would leave the option to draft a quarterback come 2021 — especially if the team can improve on its draft position. The 2021 draft should be a solid QB class, with guys like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, and JT Daniels likely available.

What position should be Rhule’s focus in the 2020 NFL Draft?

Moriarty: Defensive tackle. Gerald McCoy is a free agent, so the Panthers could draft someone like Auburn’s Derrick Brown to fill that void, assuming McCoy doesn’t return. Brown racked up 13 sacks in his four years with the Tigers.

D’Andrea: Offensive line. Picking at No. 7 likely excludes Carolina from the Joe Burrow/Tua Tagovailoa class of quarterbacks, but it should give the Panthers a great opportunity to add a blue-chip pass blocker to the trenches.

The club spent second-round picks in 2017 and 2019 to add Taylor Moton and Greg Little, respectively, at offensive tackle. While Moton has been solid, Little made only three starts thanks to injuries as a rookie and underwhelmed when he did take the field (14 blown blocks, including 11 in pass blocking, in just 214 snaps).

He failed to outplay impending free agent left tackle Daryl Williams in 2019, leaving questions about the most important position on an offensive line that ranked 27th in sack rate last fall (8.4 percent). If Rhule doesn’t think Little’s ready for a starring role protecting his QB’s blindside, he could draft a budding young blocker like Tristan Wirfs, Andrew Thomas, or Jedrick Wills and keep the 2019 draftee around to develop as a swing tackle. There’s no such thing as too much blocking — especially under a head coach who’s likely to completely revamp the Panther offense.

Who are the five players who should remain on the roster, no matter what?

Moriarty: The obvious first one is Christian McCaffrey, who rushed for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, along with 1,005 receiving yards. He’s so versatile he was named an All-Pro both at two positions, both at RB and flex. Depending on what Rhule does at quarterback, McCaffrey makes Carolina dangerous both on the ground and in the air — something it lacked a bit with Allen as the starter in 2019.

I’d also probably keep receivers DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel. Moore led the team with 13.5 yards per reception this season, and Samuel had a team-high six touchdown receptions.

On defense, Luke Kuechly and Mario Addison would be smart to keep around. Kuechly led the team with 144 total tackles this season, and he’s been the anchor of Carolina’s since he entered the league in 2012. Addison led the Panthers with 9.5 sacks, the fourth straight year he’s led the team in sacks with at least nine. I think getting one or two more playmakers added to the roster on defense would help Rhule’s offense get back on the field more, too. The consistency of Addison and Kuechly is enough to keep them around, in my opinion.

D’Andrea: McCaffrey, Moore, and Kuechly for sure. I’d also throw Brian Burns (16 QB hits as a rookie) into the mix, as he’s liable to start 2020 with a string of double-digit sack seasons. The last name depends on whether you think a soon-to-be 31-year-old Kawann Short is entering the downside of his career. The 315-pounder is a rare wrecking ball from the interior of the defensive line, but he played just two games last fall and has only 10 quarterback hits in his last 16 games (he had at least 17 in each season from 2015-17).

If he can return to form, he’s foundational bedrock. If not, a few candidates spring to mind. Moton may be the team’s best blocker. Shaq Thompson is a useful inside linebacker whose coverage skills improved in 2019 (seemingly at the expense of his tackling ability). James Bradberry is an inconsistent ball of potential at corner, but he had three interceptions vs. one touchdown allowed in coverage and held opposing QBs to a 63.5 passer rating in coverage this season.

All things considered, I’d rather go with a full-power Short — but Moton is a nice option, too.

Was Rhule the best option for the Panthers?

D’Andrea: I think so. Elsewhere in the NFC, Jerry Jones was busying penning an ode to wild card losses by hiring Mike McCarthy (Jason Garrett 2.0) and keeping Kellen Moore on board as offensive coordinator. Washington decided the next prestigious coaching name it would ruin was Rivera’s. Rather than rely on a retread, Tepper went bold and hired quite possibly the hottest name among the college ranks (outside of maybe Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley).

Rhule fits the larger overall trend of young(ish) offensive minds who can continue the NFL’s trend of evolving passing attacks. Based on what he did with Brewer, the Panthers must be thrilled to see what Rhule can do with Newton, Allen, Grier, or whomever ends up being their franchise quarterback going forward.

Moriarty: I agree with Christian. While Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has NFL head coaching experience unlike Rhule, the Panthers decided to go with a bolder name, and someone who fits the Kliff Kingsbury mold coming out of college.

Rhule is a great hire. The turnarounds he’s been able to pull off at Temple and Baylor were impressive, and I’m excited to see how that translates to the NFL. Now he’ll inherit a pretty talented roster, so unlike his college days, he won’t be building from the ground up. But if he wants to completely overhaul things, it seems like Tepper will let him do that, too.

[game-refraction]

Game Review: Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One)

Halo Wars, back in 2009, could be considered a test, a gamble, an experiment. What I mean by that is the RTS genre on consoles was not exactly a dominating force, what with only a small handful of titles even released and even less so remembered by name. The Halo brand was a force to be reckoned with and Microsoft was keen on exploiting this to no end. What’s truly ironic about Halo Wars is that even before Microsoft took in the Halo brand to debut on its first ever gaming console, the original Xbox, was that Halo started out as an RTS, to begin with.

Halo Wars, despite the real-time strategy genre being an oddity on consoles, worked. It showed that a genre that is usually centered around a mouse and keyboard could function and be enjoyable with a controller, and the same can be said about Halo Wars 2 as well. While the title functions and works within the confines of a controller, what it lacks; however, is the S in RTS and depending on what you are wanting out of Halo Wars 2 will differ on your opinion on it.

To be blunt, Halo Wars 2 is not a deep and engaging strategy game, and frankly, I am ok with that. If you are wanting something more along the lines of StarCraft, Rome: Total War or Company of Heroes, then you’re probably not going to be satisfied with this seemingly watered down RTS. Halo Wars 2 is an RTS for Halo fans and is not likely going to win over strategy purists with its mostly casual approach to the genre.

Halo Wars 2 takes place 28 years after the events of the first game, with the crew of the Spirit of Fire waking up from cryonic sleep after drifting in space. When they receive a signal from a strange new location, Captain James Cutter sends a small recon squad to investigate. While searching the wreckage of an UNSC base, they discover an AI named Isabel who makes them aware of the threat they now face; Atriox, the leader of a group called the Banished, a sect of warriors that freed themselves out from under control of the Covenant.

While most of the story is told through the 12 mission briefings and during play, many of the standout moments here are told via the 7 wonderfully animated cutscenes. I am a huge fan of the lore that the Halo series is known for, and I was rather impressed with the story here and how it may or may not tie directly into the forthcoming Halo 6. I do wish that the same intensity that is displayed in said cutscenes was somehow worked into the actual game better as the closest we get to that level of action is the Warthog chase at the start of the game and a brief few moments in the final mission. That’s not to say the rest of the game lacks action, it just lacks the cinematic feel of action that the cutscenes are packed full of.

While the campaign is enjoyable, it doesn’t take a lot of risks gameplay wise or gives us what we haven’t already experienced in various other RTS games like what StarCraft did almost 20 years ago. What Halo Wars 2 does well is changing up the win conditions on certain missions. Sometimes you’ll need to hold out on wave after wave of enemy forces on a beach, or building a tower defense gauntlet to protect a key resource. My favorite mission is still the final one and that is just because it creates a genuine sense of panic and I wish more missions gave me that feeling. I did find that the limited unit count did nothing to help the large scale maps the game throws at you. The level titled “From the Deep” has an epic showdown protecting a base near a beach. While the top portion of the map is utilized for battle, as well as a few sections to the right, the entire bottom portion of the map is never used and felt wasted. The current unit count is set to 80, with some costing more to recruit. Had the unit count be pushed to 100 or 120, I feel the game would have had a grander sense of scale.

Another element that is quite enjoyable via the campaign are the leader point abilities. Throughout your progress in a mission, you will earn leader points that can be used to purchase new skills like healing your squad, setting down an instant-turret or unleashing hell with a giant laser from the sky. These abilities can turn the tide of battle in a heartbeat. The campaign features a particular set of these, while multiplayer will depend on which leader you have selected, and I’ll touch upon leaders later on.

A few of the characters from the first game are back and are sporting fresh new looks. Cutter, as voiced by Gideon Emery, not only looks like the actor but has far more of an iconic look than his original design in the first Halo Wars. Professor Ellen Anders also bares resemblance to her new voice actress as Faye Kingslee steps in and takes over voice duties this time around. I found these updated changes to the characters well worth it as both actors give above and beyond better performances than the original cast. Those who know me know that Cortana is easily my favorite science fiction character of all time, so you might say I have a slight fascination with the female AI this series can offer, and Isabel is no different. Despite actual human characters like Cutter and Anders, the orange tinted Isabel feels the most human out of all of them. She has some very strong emotional scenes and combined with the tremendous voice work by Erika Soto, who also lends her appearance to Isabel, may be the most impressive character this spin-off series has introduced thus far.

Playing an RTS via a controller can make or break this title for you depending on your getting to grips with not having a mouse or keyboard at the ready. Creative Assembly took what worked in the first Halo Wars and refined it even more so, making the controller a natural fit for what Halo Wars 2 has to offer, and this is in some way because the campaign isn’t terribly demanding on a need for complex controls. RB selects all units on screen and double tapping it selects all units on the map. You can use RT to then cycle through each unit type, making it easy to select a type of unit to take advantage of alternative fire modes like infantry throwing a grenade or Kodiak tanks locking into place to fire their long distance fire support. Selecting the same units of a single type is also made even easier by simply double tapping the A button, making it a snap to select the same unit types out of a large crowd. Speaking of large crowds, you can select a patch of units by simply holding down the A button to create a selecting circle, it’s an easy way to pick up a small squad and set them loose immediately. The circle can also be moved around to add to your already selected units.

You can set squads to the D-pad with custom hot-keys for support. This can come in handy when sending out troops to combat a certain type of opposition. Halo Wars 2 uses a basic triangle combat system for its units; Infantry>Air>Tank>Infantry. Setting those types of units to your hot-keys can turn what could be a frustrating loss into an easy win. The hot-keys are only accessible when holding down the RT button as the D-pad is naturally there to set up rally points, return to your base or selecting units that are in or out of combat.

As was the case with the first Halo Wars, bases are a segmented affair that prevents any creative placements of buildings. You start with one main base and you can add onto it via slots that surround that base, with higher level bases having more slots. You cannot place bases wherever you want ala StarCraft, nor can you move that base either. While you can build new bases in preset locations around the map, this leads to a lot of predictability in multiplayer. Resources in other RTS games have usually been environmental and setting up a base near them was, and is a great tactic. Resource gathering in Halo Wars, for better or for worse, are structures that you build in the slots of your main base, meaning you can’t resource hog a map to overpower your opponent.

While the campaign will take you anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to complete, the lasting appeal of any RTS is through its various multiplayer modes, and Halo Wars 2 has a few to keep you occupied. There is Domination where you’ll capture and hold control towers to score points. Strongholds is a frantic chase to see who can build the most structures by the end of the match, while Deathmatch sees you wipe your enemies from the face of the earth. Finally, there is Blitz. While each and every mode in the game has you dependent on a base to churn out cannon fodder, I mean units, Blitz has you summon those units with cards. There are infantry cards, vehicle cards and a whole wealth of different types that each have different recruiting costs. You’ll earn this recruitment currency by collecting a key resource on the map. Blitz can be played against other players or co-op against waves of enemies in what is called Blitz Firefight. You’ll capture areas on the map that earn you points should you at least control two zones.

One element that is shared across all modes is having a set leader for your squad. Cutter, Isabel, Anders, Decimus, Atriox, Shipmaster and Forge are all selectable leaders each with key abilities that may shape how you play, or play to your strengths. Isabel, for example, improves the effectiveness of vehicles and employs hacking and distraction powers in battle, whereas Anders’ expertise allows her to field Sentinal units and her upgrades are cheaper and faster. Decimus and Shipmaster, who are allies of Atriox, have abilities that siphon health or cloak their respective units. Blitz takes the leader system a bit further by having custom cards that only work under that leader, so pray you get lucky when opening a pack of cards.

The cards featured and used in Blitz are unlocked while playing the game, completing certain objectives or simply exploring all the content in the game; however, you can also buy these cards with real money. While the packs are random, those with a semi-disposable income can have a clear advantage based solely on luck, but it is still an advantage regardless. While this won’t really matter in Blitz Firefight, it can in the versus modes where you battle your friends or random players. I will say that one issue I have with Blitz is the placement of the cards on-screen, they tend to block a good chunk of screen real estate, making it sort of hard to see what is going on when the action gets hectic.

Halo Wars 2 is a game bursting with color. Despite other shooters and action games that tend to rely on seven shades of brown, Halo has always been a very colorful franchise. Isabel’s glowing orange color or the beautiful environments all compliment the color tones of the Halo series well. I noticed some slowdown when the action got intense, but overall the game runs and looks gorgeous and very much like a proper Halo game. I also have to give it props for not simply recycling the same audio command when selecting the destination for a unit. Sure, they may only have 2-3 options, but Forge consistently shouting “Rolling!” each time you moved the Warthog in the first Halo Wars was almost enough to make me start crawling up the walls.

As is the case with most Microsoft first party games is the play anywhere system. Should you purchase Halo Wars 2 digitally, then you’ll have access to it on both Xbox One and Windows 10. You can easily swap to both as it will sync up your save games and unlocks instantly. While the game is playable with a mouse and keyboard on PC, it is drastically designed for a controller, so keep that in mind.

Depending on what you expect out of an RTS, regardless of platform, Halo Wars 2 may scratch that itch. It’s basic, sure, but there is a lot to like here, and even more so should you actually be a Halo fan as well. Halo Wars 2 does tread upon material that Blizzard perfected almost 20 years ago with StarCraft, and that influence is very apparent throughout much of the content here. While Blitz is an entertaining way to waste hours and hours online against friends and random players, the microtransactions sadly look to hurt the staying power a mode like this should have. Halo Wars 2 is not without its flaws, but they are minor if you can keep your expectations in check for a console RTS. Sure, it’s not the deepest game, and the low unit count can make the game feel a bit less epic than it should, but it’s a fun game with a great story and it had me at Halo.

Game Review: Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One) was originally published on Game-Refraction