Geekly News: February 9, 2025, Fantastic Four: First Steps Trailer

Published on February 9, 2025February 8, 2025 by KyraLeave a comment

We didn’t release a news post last week. We’re still figuring out how we’re going to cover Geekly News. This week, we’ll try a headliner story with other stories. Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here, and we’re back with some Geekly News. Hopefully, I make some sense; I’ve been under the weather this past week.

Fantastic Four: First Steps Trailer Dropped

The official teaser trailer for Fantastic Four: First Steps was released on February 5th. The trailer left me equally excited and nervous about the upcoming film. The new movie appears to be the most faithful adaptation of Marvel’s first family. The Thing looks comic book accurate; I watched the trailer multiple times to hear the click of his lips and clack of his fingers. And H.E.R.B.I.E.’s inclusion made me smile. Sure, the special effects look on-point, especially when we get our first glimpse of Galactus, but the teaser’s best feature is how the Fantastic Four interacted. This team has been doing the superhero shtick for a while. They behave like a family and not just because Sue uses the word family. The scene between H.E.R.B.I.E. and The Thing shows us the team’s family dynamic.

Just in case you missed the Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser trailer, here’s the official teaser:

Let’s cover some details from the trailer.

Prior to the trailer’s release, if you happened to log into the live feed, you would’ve seen a countdown sponsored by the Future Foundation. In the comics, the Future Foundation was created by Reed to better serve humanity’s future, and the Fantastic Four’s space suits resemble their Future Foundation super suits. Most likely, the group works for the Future Foundation.

The movie is set in the 1960s and showcases a retro-futuristic look. The Fantastic Four are headquartered in the Baxter Building, just like in the comics. The Baxter Building may or may not replace Avengers/Stark Tower in this alternate reality. Director Matt Shakman manipulates the aspect ratio (when the scene shifts to our first view of the Baxter Building) much like he did in WandaVision.

While The Thing does cook in the comics every once and a while, it’s fun to see the connection between Ebon Moss-Bachrach and his role in The Bear.

If you pause the scene where Reed works on an equation, you may notice a bridge to observe parallel worlds. This could explain how the Fantastic Four cross over into MCU’s reality.

The rocket the Fantastic Four takes in the trailer is known as Marvel-1. The Fantastic Four are indeed Marvel’s First Family. The company wasn’t even known as Marvel until after the group took to the skies in the Marvel-1. Fantastic Four: First Steps recreates the look of the original rocket.

The Thing Halloween masks the three kids wear resemble a rare Thing face mask available in 1967.

The blue car that flies through the streets is most likely the Fantasticar. One can almost make out the name at the front of the car. The flying Fantasticar is the primary mode of transportation for the Fantastic Four.

John Malkovich’s character makes a brief appearance and while the movie hasn’t announced who he’s playing, he’s most likely portraying Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost. I was relieved. I just finished the Fantastic Four Color Palette Quiz for July and debated if I should include Red Ghost. I thought, nah, no one will know who he is and there’s no way he’ll make an appearance in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Looks like I may have been wrong.

We have a Galactus sighting. Yay! He looks comic book accurate, unlike the cloud in Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Finally, we come to the stage the Fantastic Four stand on during what appears to be a television appearance. I say television appearance because the stage looks like the famous stage that The Beatles performed on during their first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

Like I said, the trailer has me hyped and a little worried. Please. Let this movie be good. It must be good.

PlayStation Network Outage

This is a developing issue and the latest addition to this geekly news break. Sony confirmed a Playstation Network (PSN) outage started on Friday, February 7^th at 1900 EST. I’m writing this update on Saturday, February 8^th, and the network is still down. Even if the outage returns before this post goes live, PSN would be down for over 24 hours.

The PlayStation Network outage impacts game sales, subscription sign-ups, and microtransactions across the PlayStation Store. Players can’t play live service games. This doesn’t just affect Sony. All third-party partners can’t sell games or content or run their live service games until the PlayStation Network returns.

Sony gave a clipped and terse response on February 7^th at 2043 EST. “We are aware some users might be currently experiencing issues with PSN.” The company didn’t give any updates or an estimate to when the servers will be restored. The company didn’t even announce that the outage was global. “Some users?” Try all users. If you’re still experiencing issues with PSN while reading this, be sure to check the PlayStation Network status page with this link.

This PSN outage of at least 24 hours marks the longest PSN outage since the infamous 2011 PlayStation Network outage. Back then, the PSN had been out for 24 consecutive days because the system got hacked. Hopefully, this outage doesn’t last as long as the 2011 outage or have as many repercussions.

Azur Promilia Misses Its Release Date

This news is a bit late, but Azur Promilia, one of my most anticipated video games of 2025 (and my most anticipated Gacha video game of 2025) missed its release date of January 25^th. You may be asking, “Azur Promilia. What’s that?” Let’s discuss what the game is and what this delay could mean.

What is Azur Promilia?

Azur Promilia is an upcoming Gacha game by Chinese publisher Manjuu. Players recruit characters and form teams like Genshin Impact, sprinkle in some light farm simulation like Harvest Moon, and each character receives boosts from pets you can raise like Pokémon. You can breed these creatures that help you in combat. We don’t know if these critters inherit stats from their parents. If that’s the case, it could reduce the amount of grinding needed in a Gacha. Fingers crossed.

What we do know is there will be mounts, even flying mounts, to traverse a vast open world. The translation (into multiple languages to include English) is complete. The game will have a simultaneous launch (every region will get the game on the same day). It uses a free-to-play Gacha model. And pre-registration is open. You can pre-register for Azur Promilia on the game’s home page. Follow this link.

What does Azur Promilia’s Missed Release Date Mean?

In short, we don’t know. Chinese video game companies apply for a release date a year in advance. Manjuu applied for Azur Promilia’s license on January 25^th, 2024, which means the company needed to release the game on or before January 25^th, 2025. The cost to apply for a video game release is hefty. There is a chance that Manjuu applied for an extension for their current license, or they may have to reapply. Either way, there has been little word from Manjuu since Azur Promilia missed its release date.

Here comes some speculation. You’ve been warned. Since Manjuu has gone radio silent and China is in the middle of a holiday season, Azur Promilia will be released in April 2025 at the earliest. There is a chance that the game could be released next month (March 2025), but Manjuu will need to ramp up its promotion for Azur Promilia in advance of the game’s release. I wouldn’t mind streaming the game if Manjuu would like to send Geekly a key. Just saying.

If we hear something from Manjuu about a new release date in the next week, great. There’s a chance for a March release. If we don’t, I’d expect an April 2025 release date or later. I’ve been waiting for Azur Promilia for months. It looks fantastic. I can’t wait to get lost in another stunning world. Plus, dragons. I want my dragon mount already.

Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual Releases

The 2024 version of Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual will be officially released on February 18^th, 2025, but many local gaming stores have had hard copies since February 5^th, 2025. I know that the previous sentence doesn’t make sense. The 2024 version of D&D’s Monster Manual releases in 2025. All I can do is shrug. Publisher Wizards of the Coast has an odd release schedule for the 2024, 50^th Anniversary Dungeon & Dragons core set.

The 50^th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons edition makes some changes to D&D 5^th Edition. Think of it as 5.5 Edition. It caters to new players and streamlines certain aspects of 5^th Edition. If you pre-ordered the book, you can pick up your copy. If you didn’t pre-order your copy of the Monster Manual, most local gaming stores will have additional copies. And if you haven’t picked up the rest of the core set (Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide), you should be able to pick up the 50^th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons core set in its entirety. Happy gaming!

And that’s all I have for you this week for Geekly News. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Geekly News: Finspan Board Game Geek Reviews

Published on January 12, 2025January 26, 2025 by KyraLeave a comment

Stonemaier Games announced a new spinoff game from their wildly popular board game series Wingspan. The series is headed to the depths of the ocean with Finspan. Like Wyrmspan before Finspan, Wingspan’s original designer, Elizabeth Hargrave, is involved. And a funny thing tends to happen with Board Game Geek (BGG) and its review system whenever a Wingspan spin-off gets announced. The game gets an equal number of people who review bomb the spin-off (giving the game a 1 out of 10) and people who give the game top marks.

I came late to the party before I took the above screen capture of Finspan’s rating distribution. The numbers were almost perfectly even between 1s and 10s yesterday. Finspan truthers have more than doubled since then. But Finspan hasn’t yet been released. The game is scheduled for a January 22nd release date. This begs the question, should you rate a game that hasn’t been released?

Quick note: Board game companies do give reviewers advanced copies of games, but these numbers pale in comparison to video games (whose companies give out keys for downloads) because postage is involved. There’s a zero percent chance that the above numbers come exclusively from board game reviewers with advanced copies of Finspan.

To answer that previous question, no. You don’t have enough knowledge to rate a game that hasn’t been released unless you are one of the few board game reviewers with an advanced copy. Board game enthusiasts have been arguing about Finspan‘s rating for the past few days. Some argue that it’s too high. Others that it’s too low. Most people suggest that the problem lies with Board Game Geek.

I don’t buy that. Board Game Geek allows board game companies to upload their upcoming games to the site. This allows companies to lock in a name for a board game, so we won’t get a competing Finspan from some other company. BGG also allows people to write reviews for upcoming games because these games are seen before launch. Undoubtedly, Stonemaier Games brought some version of Finspan to a convention or two, and people demoed it. Some of the above scores may be legitimate.

Then, there’s the question of when does a game officially release? Finspan’s release date of January 22nd is more concrete than many other board games because of a lack of crowdfunding. Does a game’s release date coincide with when the first Kickstarter backer receives their copy? Or is it when the game reaches retail? Maybe the game never reaches retail. Does that mean that it will forever be unreleased, even though thousands of people own a copy?

Blaming Board Game Geek for allowing upcoming games on their site isn’t the issue. The issue stems from people who will rate a game unseen.

How often does this happen? Often. Make no mistake. Wyrmspan received the exact same criticism and scores before its release, and it became one of the most highly rated games from last year (2024). So, why do Wingspan spin-offs get all this hate?

Few other game series get the same vitriol as a Wingspan spin-off. Numerous games have introduced “Duel” or “Duet” versions (2-player variants) of popular games: Splendor, 7 Wonders, King of Tokyo, and Cosmic Encounter. No one bats an eye. Many other games have spawned countless spin-offs: Catan, Ticket to Ride, and even Gloomhaven. Review bombs do occur with these titles but not in the sheer number of a Wingspan spin-off. Why is that?

Not going to lie. Finspan looks cool; I’ll have to try it at least once.

Quick note: I’m not one of the board game reviewers who received an advanced copy; most board game reviewers who do receive advanced copies produce video content (note to self: start a YouTube channel or TikTok account).

I used to think that Stonemaier Games got flak for producing spin-off games because they’re a smaller company. If Days of Wonder released spin-offs during their years of producing one game per year, I would get upset about a spin-off for one year. But Stonemaier has a full slate of board games planned (far more than one) for 2025 that don’t include Finspan. Finspan is extra content.

Furthermore, Gloomhaven has received multiple spin-off board games, and most people cheer for those upcoming games. Cephalofair Games is a much smaller company and produces far fewer games per year than Stonemaier Games. So, “small board game company” can’t be the main reason.

I like to think the reason is closer to people respecting Stonemaier Games and wanting the company to innovate with each one of their games. This is the kind reason why Wyrmspan and Finspan received blowback. I mentioned Days of Wonder’s stretch of “one game per year” for a reason. Days of Wonder was the preeminent board game company at that time. When you saw a Days of Wonder title (this would’ve been about the 2000s and into the early 2010s), you knew the game was high quality. I would’ve been a little upset if Days of Wonder only released a spin-off game at that time because I would’ve wanted a different game to play.

Spin-off board games work like movie sequels. They tend to print money. Wyrmspan sure did last year, and I expect Finspan to do the same. While I can see why some may be disappointed with a spin-off game, Stonemaier Games needs to stay afloat financially. Finspan may be a spin-off game, but it affords Stonemaier Games to take other risks with different titles.

Again, Stonemaier Games has a full slate of games for 2025 that don’t include Finspan. If the innovation reason is why someone rated Finspan low, wait for the game’s release. Wyrmspan tweaked Wingspan’s base gameplay. I expect Finspan to do the same.

There is a penultimate group of people who review a board game on BGG before the game’s release. These folks try to affect the scoring’s bell curve. Some folks refuse to give an unreleased game a perfect or high score, so they tank the score to even out the final rating. This mentality can work the other way, and I think it did with people rating Finspan a 10, even though they’ve never played the game. These are Stonemaier Games truthers who believe in the company. To be fair, Stonemaier Games has earned that trust.

This behavior is odd. BGG doesn’t include a game in its ultimate Geek List until many people review the game or have logged plays of it. There used to be–and sometimes there still is–a time component. A game cannot be listed on the final Geek List unless it’s been released for several months. This does compensate for this odd behavior. Regardless of how BGG’s Geek List works, these games typically get aggregated sufficiently in the end.

In short, I wouldn’t worry about a minority of gamers who would rate a game before the game’s release.

Note: There was one person who claimed, “I don’t like Stonemaier Games,” so there are gamers who don’t like Stonemaier, and that’s fair.

Let’s swim into deeper waters here. Some of you may need a trigger warning for the following darkness. Fair warning, I’m not suggesting that most people who rated Finspan a 1 on BGG belong to this camp. Unfortunately, the number isn’t zero.

Elizabeth Hargrave is a woman. She’s even an outspoken woman who designs board games, and she has a megahit with the Wingspan series. Some people are jealous. Others don’t want to give credit to a woman trying to break into a predominantly boys’ club. I hope the number of people who review bombed Finspan belongs to any of the previous camps, but I’m going to be real. Most likely, at least one person review bombed Finspan because it’s a spin-off game from an outspoken woman board game designer.

So, what are our takeaways? BGG isn’t to blame for review bombing or inflating. Listing a game is great for publicity. I guess even bad publicity is publicity. Whatever the reason someone may review bomb a popular board game series release, people need to chill. Stonemaier will produce multiple games not named Finspan this year. BGG scores will even out after Finspan’s release. There’s room for multiple people of all kinds at the gaming table. Diversity makes our hobby great.

And if you’re picking up a copy of Finspan this month, you’re in the greater Omaha area, and you don’t mind teaching me the rules, I wouldn’t mind trying out Finspan. If it’s anything like Wyrmspan, I’ll play it once and then buy it later. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.