Masks and Mutants

 Whilst dogsitting, I rummaged through Netflix to try out an anime, Hero Mask. It looked like it could be interesting, even if the main character being a cop with a habit of going after criminals in spite of property damage and ths like (named James Blood of all things) felt a bit cliche.

Well, after going through most of the first season waiting for things to pick up and mysteries to pay off, I just gave up. I rate it a "meh."

The idea of biotech/superscience masks that give super powers isn't terrible. The shady organization behind them faking the death of inmates to use them as test subjects is predictable, but has potential. One of the "bad guy" company men in charge of keeping it under wraps being a former friend/partner to the protagonist could be something. Starting things off with a mask-wearer who can change his appearance and regenerate assaulting a police headquarters makes it seem like the series may be action-heavy. Yet none of that really pays off.

We only really see one other mask-wearer (who is coincidentally the only character who gets something of a character arc). The company is a bit too good at being able to clean up - assassinating witnesses, absconding with evidence, etc. The protagonists spend so much time trying to piece together a conspiracy that has no payoff. The masks themselves don't get any real explanation and may as well be magic. And as a review I saw after the fact pointed out, a cop trying to take in a witness was literally stuck in traffic for multiple episodes (they dubbed this the "traffic arc").

Overall, it was just disappointingly dull for a concept that seems like it should have been anything but.

After running through multiple endings and putting down Cyberpunk 2077, I took up a holiday sale purchase, Phoenix Point. It is, by design, very X-Com-ish. Though the immediate threat is more terrestrial (virus-mutated monsters coming from the oceans), it's still very "defend Earth against aliens."

The tactical missions are pretty good, though they can get a bit repetitive. The big features of note are a targeting circle in which ranged attacks can spread, rather than a numerical percentage chance to hit, and environmental cover that can sometimes be destroyed. This doesn't change things a whole lot in my experience other than kneeling behind low cover tends to lead to behind hit in the head (which isn't immediately lethal, at least) more than anything. But the tactical play was pretty satisfying most of the time.

The strategic world map layer... hmm... It's fine, I guess? You have to manage multiple bases as you bring them online. And, of course, there's research of technologies. Travel time between map locations counts and the early game has you exploring a lot while later you may be sending teams around to defend or attack locations. 

And there are faction settlements leading into the diplomacy aspect that is sort of its own thing. There are three major, competing factions you deal with. The game sort of encourages you to pick one or two to side with as they offer missions against one another. You can straddle the line and potentially ally with them all, but it's debatable whether there's an advantage there compared to raiding one or two for resources, technology, and vehicles. When it comes down to the ending, you can choose to aid one of the factions or go it alone, there is no 'unite them all' option. Also, the RNG of where the faction havens are in relation to your starting point and have a serious effect on how accessible certain technologies/classes are in any given playthrough. So I'm a touch disappointed with that aspect, but it's still an interesting addition to the formula.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It satisfied the strategic/tactical urges for a while.