Logo for Byte Magazine at Ball State University

Reality Check




‘My Hero Academia’ Season 3, Episode 8: “From Iida to Midoriya”

Overall, there was a lot of developments in this episode with the  student’s demeanor and how the school is now being perceived by the  public. It is a unique situation in a show for the heroes to be in a  negative point of view. However, there is hope for our protagonists to  still show that heroes will always prevail. As always, I am excited for  next week’s episode. 


‘Detroit: Become Human’ is an ambitious sci-fi drama with flawed features

'Detroit: Become Human' is an ambitious interactive sci-fi drama where  your choices have a drastic impact on events, making them more  satisfying than other games in the genre. Though I wish the story wasn’t  so heavy-handed with game's motifs, I still enjoyed the subtlety  conveyed through its tech and performances. Much of the gameplay could  have been improved by giving more options with the mechanics, like the  detective mode, and providing reminders of the choices I had already  made. But I would still recommend this game for people looking for a  story-driven game with branching paths. 


Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference 2018 recap

Last year’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference was marked by the announcement of the Homepod as well as a new configuration of the 10.5 inch iPad, updates to the Macbook line and the all new iMac Pro. This year’s WWDC 2018 has taken a much more software-focused approach. 



‘Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon’ is the perfectly portioned appetizer to IGA’s main course

 ‘Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon’ is a perfectly portioned appetizer to  the upcoming main course of ‘Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.’ The  game looks great, sounds great, and plays exactly like it should. The  'Castlevania' influence flows through all parts of this product, and  despite my personal distaste for the original 'Castlevania' games, this  game makes the right improvements on the gameplay to keep it fresh,  fair, and fun. It even delivers a shocking amount of length for a game  of this style. ‘Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon’ reaches ‘Shovel Knight’  levels of perfectly nailing the feel of an NES classic. 


“Show Dogs” is a new pedigree of lame animal comedy

Show Dogs is one of the worst examples of condescending family  entertainment this reviewer has seen in a long time. With extremely low  production values and extremely shoddy writing, it is extremely hard to  recommend to anyone who doesn’t feel nostalgic for an age of film making  where movies like this were seen as tent pole films for studios across  the board. However, if you have a sweet tooth for schlock like this  and/or have younger family members who have an affinity for dogs… you’re  still better off watching Air Bud and its cosmic smorgasbord of  sequels. 



“Solo: A Star Wars Story” can be fun, but blends into a crowd all too well

'Solo: A Star Wars Story' has a lot of problems. Its writing is  inconsistent, it’s too visually muddy, it needed to be about 20 minutes  shorter, and it needed to have its own legs to stand on. Despite all of  that, there are enough great action sequences and good character moments  that the film can’t be written off as completely terrible. It can,  however, be written off as bland and forgettable. Much like Han Solo  himself, the film is enjoyable, but flawed and ultimately unimportant. 



‘My Hero Academia’ Season 3, Episode 7: “What a Twist!”

 This episode wrapped up an arc and began the next one. It dealt a lot  with the aftermath of the attack, and highlighted what UA is going to do  next. The animation is beautiful and shows some interesting scenes. It  deals with the loss of a friend and how people feel about that. Overall,  the episode helps excite the viewer for what is coming up next. 


‘Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux’ is an underwhelming port of a classic game

 'Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux' is a tough game to really  judge. All the parts I love about the game are present in the original,  and the things added by the port ranged from neutral additions to  actively ruining the experience. However, the original isn’t exactly  easy to find for a low cost, despite its age. For those who are just now  getting into actual 'Shin Megami Tensei' titles, 'Strange Journey  Redux' will offer a great introduction with just enough anime to keep  'Persona' fans enticed. For longtime 'Shin Megami Tensei' fans who still  own a copy of the original, wait for a sale before buying the port.  There wasn’t enough effort put into the port to make it worth the full  cost. 


‘Deadpool 2’ puts forth maximum effort

The humor in 'Deadpool 2' makes the movie worth watching and makes it an  enjoyable experience. It’s fun to try and catch all of the references.  The characters were enjoyable and grew throughout the movie. The action  looked awesome, and the humor even showed up in serious moments. 


The Coven S4E11: Bullyhunters

 So it's no  secret that gaming online can be a really toxic, and playing online as a  woman or a person of color comes with the hazard of ten year olds  targeting you for that. There's plenty of evidence of this kind of  griefing online, but what can be done? Systemic overhaul of the  problematic culture around gaming? Turning off voicechat? No... clearly  the only effective solution is hunting the bullies down.