The 'Shroom:Issue 224/Critic Corner
Director's Notes
Gobble gobble another November is here, and almost gone as quickly as people think about Thanksgiving in-between taking down their Halloween decorations and putting up their Christmas decorations or just not being American to begin with. Critic Corner is global, universal, able to be celebrated by all, and luckily here we are again with a bunch more reviews to peruse!
Thank you for voting Half-Baked Reviews as October's Critic Corner Section(s) of the Month!! Be sure to give your love to all of our sections here, and give a shout out to our writers whether in chat or in their forum threads dedicated to their sections. Be sure to vote vote vote!
And now for my regular announcements: We've decided to implement in Critic Corner something similar to News Flush over in Fake News, where no formal sign-up application process is required for one-time or limited sections. From now on if you just want to send in a single review for something you just read, watched played, tried, whatever, you just have to send me your review privately either to me directly in chat, or in a message to me on the forum at least one week before each 'Shroom is to be released! There's no commitment or obligation to provide a full monthly section (although you absolutely can shift it into one if you so choose), just send us your thoughts on a thing and we'll feature it here! If you have any questions or curiosities about this, please feel free to ask!
As always, if you would like to help Critic Corner, we always have openings for more writers! You are free to write for sections such as Character Review and Movie Review, or really anything you'd like to do! There's no pressure to have a huge section; they can be shorter and concise! The application process is very simple, starting with reading the Sign Up page, and sending your application to Meta Knight on the forum. Any idea you have is welcome, and if you have any questions or need help signing up, please feel free to reach out to myself or other 'Shroom peeps!
Section of the Month
| CRITIC CORNER SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Anton's Half-Baked Reviews | 10 | 43.48% | Hypnotoad (talk) |
| 2nd | Elemental Enemies | 4 | 17.39% | Boo1268 (talk) |
| 3rd | A Review of SMLWiki.com | 3 | 13.04% | Camwoodstock (talk) |
Super Ninelevendo Entertainment Reviews
Written by: Ninelevendo (talk)
It's a modern PokĆ©mon game. You know the story by now. Graphical textures that look like they belong on the Nintendo 64. Unoptimised performance. Too much dialogue and handholding. No voice acting. The only other usual issue I didn't have a problem with was performanceā¦ but considering that I was playing the Switch 2 version, I imagine that's the extra horsepower doing its thing rather than clever programming.
And yet here I am, still feeling like I've got something to add to the conversation. Despite the obvious flaws, there's still some interesting changes to the PokƩmon formula that I wanted to take a look at, see what works and what didn't, and analyse what aspects of the game design could be improved upon. Because overall, while the game is still relatively mediocre and not up the standard that the series should be, I still ended up having some fun with it.
Battle System
I'm not sure it's because this isn't the first PokƩmon game I've played with an active time battle system (as other games like Unite or Masters work somewhat similarly), or if it's just a obvious evolution for the series in general, but the battle system in Legends ZA felt like a completely natural way to battle with PokƩmon, to the point that if you told a newcomer that this is how PokƩmon has always worked, they'd probably believe you. Having PokƩmon move around in a 3D environment and follow your commands just makes sense, and I would honestly be okay with this style of battling permanently with this style of battle coming back in all future installments.
Moves now work on cooldowns rather than PP, with stronger moves naturally having larger cooldown periods, which presents some interesting changes to the strategy of PokƩmon. For starters, it's much more beneficial to use a variety of moves while waiting for the cooldowns to finish as opposed to spamming the same move in the main games, making running multiple STAB moves ideal. This also makes type advantages much more advantageous than before; if you're weak to something, you'll potentially be facing multiple super effective moves in a row, meanwhile your non-stab coverage move will be stuck on cooldown after one use. As such, building your team around types is a much bigger deal than it used to be; one coverage move on a PokƩmon isn't going to cut it anymore. A lot of my PokƩmon died pretty quickly in some matches, and having a response prepared beforehand had much more of an impact than any of the time-based decisions I had to make.
None of this really feels necessarily better or worse than the traditional turn based system, and to steal what Hooded Pitohui called it elsewhere, it feels more like a sidegrade. With that being said, a lot of the funner strategy aspects of the old turn-based combat system have been watered down with each new game in the series as they make things easier, with things like exp share and move relearning making the act of building a perfect team easier than ever, to the point where I think that this style of combat generally creates a more fun and engaging single player experience. There's definitely still a place for turn based combat, particularly against other human players where I think it's much more interesting in that context, however with PokƩmon Champions on the horizon I have to wonder if the main games will need turn based battling anymore.
Gameplay Loop
Legends ZA follows a day-night cycle, with the main difference between both being the ZA Royale, which only appears at night. The idea sounds good on paper - catch PokƩmon and do side quests during the day, battle at night - however in practice it ends up being kind of an annoyance. Some PokƩmon only appear at night, so you'll still need to spend some nights trying to catch them all, and side quests are still active regardless of the time of day, so the only real separation is the ZA Royale, which you'll have to actively ignore at some points in order to catch them all. Most irritating is how the day changes will always occur after a certain time period, and will completely reset whatever situation you're in. Battling a hard-to-catch alpha PokƩmon? Too bad, they're gone now. Climbing a ladder? Nope, on the ground now. I really wish that it was a more seamless transition, but as it is you'll end up deliberately not doing anything during the last few seconds of a cycle just so that you don't get caught out by the sudden change.
The ZA Royale itself can be pretty fun. Trainers will actively search for you in order to start battle (and sometimes them spotting you can come as a bit of a jump scare, which is kinda funny), so sneaking around Metal Gear style will help you get an advantage on opponents. Your goal is to achieve a certain amount of points to reach the next rank up match, and between the time limit of the night and the bonus cards that give you extra points for completing objectives, it creates this fun sense of time management strategy where you'll try to maximise the amount of points you get as fast as possible. It begins to fall apart, however, when you consider that the points carry over to the next night, and while that does make it potentially less frustrating if you fail to do everything on one night, it also eliminates that sense of urgency that these battle royale nights might have initially seemed to have. On the other hand, if you're just leisurely battling to reach your point quota, the night ending and stopping your progress can also be an annoying inconvenience. Overall it's still fun to play through and try to optimise your points, but it has that Pikmin 2 issue where it feels unfocused, like the game isn't able to commit to it wants you to do, and leaves you slightly unsatisfied with either way that you try to play.
The PokƩmon catching mechanics themselves also felt somewhat confused, as the game combines the ability to throw PokƩballs from Legends Arceus along with the standard "fight them and make them weak" mechanics of the main games, and it gives me the feeling of not knowing which method is more worth my time or not. Do I spend my time sneaking up slowly, trying not be seen, only for the PokƩball to still not work having to battle them anyway? Or do I go straight into the battle, KOing them and then failing my final catch chance? No matter which method you go with, if your decision doesn't work you end up feeling like you wasted your time in some way, which isn't particularly satisfying, even if it is ultimately easier to catch PokƩmon than it is in a main game. I don't have any specific ideas on how this could be improved, but I'm sure that there's got to be a way to combine the two styles a bit more seamlessly. Maybe they'll work it out in Gen 10.
Catching PokƩmon by itself also doesn't have a much of an emphasis as it does in Arceus, with only a few completely optional research missions rewarding you for doing so. There are a few "wild areas" where you can catch PokƩmon that unlock throughout the game, but they're a far cry from the large open spaces found in Arceus. I found some of them to be way too small, it was practically impossible to walk through one without being spotted by something, especially an alpha, which in turn would trigger other PokƩmon to notice you and eventually create a swarm of monsters hunting you down, forcing you to either go extremely slowing through them and just killing everything and hoping to catch them while they're stunned. I realise that this game is much more battle focused than Legends Arceus, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed that "catching them all" didn't feel like a legitimate goal that you were striving towards.
Playing through the story itself isn't particularly interesting from a gameplay perspective, as it mostly just involves travelling to one point, followed by the next, which leaves a lot of story progression feeling like pressing quick travel options rather than actually engaging with the game. I guess that's more of an "open world" game issue rather than specifically PokƩmon, but it does still somewhat sour the experience all the same. The plot itself is pretty standard and dialogue heavy without a ton of substance, buuuut that's been how PokƩmon functions since the practically the first one, so I can't really complain about it too much here. The characters are at least fairly memorable, with the yakuza boss and battle-crazy rich lady being particular standouts, though some others are walking anime cliches that I didn't care for much at all (looking at you, overprotective muscle brain big brother guy). I did quite enjoy the returning characters, as few of them as there are. It's cool to see what they're up to years after the original X & Y, and thought that their stories were done well. Honestly my only complaint here is that we didn't see more of them.
Presentation
Graphically, the game isn't great, with buildings being flat boxes with balcony textures slapped on, but if I'm being honest I didn't really care that much. It doesn't run poorly or at super low resolution that hurts my eyes, so I can't say that it actively harmed my experience. Should it be better for a 2025 game from the biggest franchise in the world? Absolutely, butā¦ I don't really have the energy to make a big fuss over it.
Maybe this is a hot take, but I've personally never found PokĆ©mon soundtracks to be that amazing. They're not actively bad, sure, but even the best tracks in the series are 1 minute loops that you hear in a battle that happens once or twice. With a vastly different selection of musicians present for this game, I was curious as to how the soundtrack would end up, andā¦ it was still mostly okay. The Lumiose night theme was probably the biggest highlight, with the jazzy vibe and saxophone sounding fantastic (I assume this is where insaneintherain music made his contribution), making nights something to look forward to. Jacinthe's battle theme was also an unexpected banger, and something I would highly recommend listening to. The rest, however, ranges from decent to pretty forgettable. With both Shinji Hosoe and Ayako Saso being on the soundtrack, I was hoping that we'd get something on the level of the Street Fighter EX series soundtracks, and I could definitely hear some of that coming through (Ivor's Theme in particular), however I don't feel like any of the battle themes in this game come close to any of the better ones from the EX games, which was a tad disappointing. (Look up Hikari no Shugoshin or Rising Dragoon if you want an idea of what we could have gotten.)
There's also not a whole lot of variety of tracks in the game, with the day and night Lumiose tracks being literally the only overworld tracks you will ever hear, with the rest being the often repeated battle themes or the ZA Royale area music. I never got sick of hearing any of the tracks at least, but some more variety would have been nice too.
Conclusion
Most of my writing up to this point has been either nitpicks or complaints, and that's because, well, there's a lot to make. Despite this, there's one thing that trumps these everytime one of these games come out and gets me to play them, and it's the fact that it's a PokƩmon game. Having your favourite PokƩmon follow behind you as you run around the city is fun. Catching PokƩmon is fun. Building a team is fun. Seeing the new mega evolutions is fun. The cinematic that plays whenever you mega one your PokƩmon never stops feeling cool. The core idea of catching and battling PokƩmon is a fun enough concept on its own that it's single handedly carried the franchise despite the games being stuck in mediocrity for the last decade, and Legends ZA is no different. It's sloppy, it's messy, but like a good cheeseburger, it's still enjoyable.
Do I wish the game was better? Yes. Do I wish it was more like Legends Arceus? Also yes. But I'm fine with what we got, and I think it's okay to accept that some games aren't the best, but we enjoy them anyway. Really, the only question that matters when it comes to whether or not you should play this game is "do you like PokƩmon". If you can answer that, you already know whether or not you'll enjoy this game.
Graphic Novel Review
| Not So Shoujo Love Story | |
|---|---|
| |
| Author | Curryuku |
| Release date | 2025 |
| Genre | comedy, romance |
| Pages | 256 |
| Available From | |
Greetings, readers, and welcome back to Graphic Novel Review! This month, I will be taking a look at the physical release of Not So Shoujo Love Story by Curryuku!
Webcomics have been around for about as long as the internet has been around- people have been making digital art with whatever they can get their hands on, from clip art to MS Paint to Photoshop and everything in between. Owning a copy of a digital comic in a physical format, however, wasn't easy. Sometimes, long-running comics that had a dedicated fanbase could spring for a Kickstarter project where they were able to crowdfund a physical release. If you've been reading with me for a while, you might remember I did a review of the Brawl in the Family compilation books (they are still sitting on my shelf and I still get emails whenever the creator decides to crowdfund a new project.) Well, with the rise of digital comic platforms such as Webtoon and Tapas, creators can market their comics to larger audiences, and some comics have gotten popular enough for mainstream publishers to print physical copies. If you've been to a Barnes and Noble in the past 5 or so years, you've no doubt seen at least one volume of Lore Olympus on their shelves, in both paperback and hardcover, and that's where today's subject lands- a webcomic from Webtoon picked up by Viz Media. There have been two volumes released so far, so I will mostly be talking about Volume 1 in this review to give you a basic overview of the story so you can decide if you'd like to read it or not. With our background out of the way, let's take a look at our story!
Not So Shoujo Love Story stars Rei, a tomboy-ish girl who is in high school. She acts tough and aloof to the other kids in her school, but she's actually a massive dork on the inside. She has feelings for the most popular boy in school, Hansum, who is the student council president and is adored by everyone for his... pointedly good looks, brains, and athletic prowess. Because of the crowds of Hansum's admirers, Rei can never get close to him, and her dreams of a shoujo manga love story get further and further away... until one of her other classmates, Hanna, asks her out! Stunned, Rei is unsure of what to say... until she (mistakenly) believes Hanna is also vying for Hansum's attention, thus making them rivals! When rumors start to spread around them and the competition for love starts to grow tense, will Rei be able to look past her manga and see who is really on her side?
When I picked this book up, I had never heard of the webcomic itself, so I went into it absolutely blind. I was expecting a paint-by-numbers shoujo plot with the art to match, but that is not what you get with this story. This is not a romance, it's a rom-com, and it's more 'com' than 'rom' at that. I was crying laughing as I was reading- panels are filled with not only goofy art of the characters but also goofy art and commentary from the background characters. It might be a fellow classmate talking about locker vandalism behind the plot moving forward, it could be a teacher commenting on something weird that someone is eating, or it could be our leading, pointed man Hansum doing good deeds or nonsense in the background. Ugly, meme-worthy faces pop out at you, and characters will openly state "what an ugly face that is, never do that again". It's like the cursed Kirby Manga Mania, but far less cursed and much more funny. It feels like the best parts of meme humor- this book does not take itself too seriously but it still has heart. In the author's notes, Curryuku lovingly refers to it as an abomination, and I can absolutely see why. Shout out to our leading man Hansum as well, with his dorito-chin and his weird food obsessions. I'm 99% sure he is an alien and I will be disappointed if he's just a weird guy.
Not So Shoujo Love Story is a silly romp through high school love story tropes. If you enjoy goofy stories with ugly faces thrown in for spice, then give this one a try. I've included a link to Webtoon in addition to the physical release, so if you'd like to dive into the webcomic without having to wait, be my guest. The art is charming, the humor is well-delivered, and the story has heart to it. Make sure no one catches the ugly laughing faces you'll be making while reading it!
That's all for me this time! Make sure to come back next year when I return with a new Book Review!
Kingdom Rush Alliance DLC Review - Wukong's Journey
| Wukong's Journey | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genres | Strategy |
| Platforms | PC (Steam), mobile (phones, IPads, etc. on Google Play and App Store) |
| Release date | September 25, 2025 |
| Rating | Around E10+ or T (it's 9+ on the App Store) |
In the past few 'Shroom Issues and on Discord, I've mentioned the "Wukong's Journey" DLC of Kingdom Rush Alliance numerous times. After talking about how awesome it is without explaining why, I felt it was time to write a review for it here in Critic Corner! I previously wrote a review on Kingdom Rush Alliance itself, so it's fitting to make one about what is potentially the best Kingdom Rush content ever made. Aw yeah!
Announced on August 21, I've been impatiently waiting in anticipation for Wukong's Journey. During that period, I went back and completed all Heroic and Iron Challenges (with the exception of the "Colossal Dwarfare" ones because I ran out of time) on Impossible Difficulty to prepare myself for what was to come. Beta testers of the upcoming DLC also publicly praised it, so I knew it was going to be one heck of a campaign.
What further piqued my curiosity was that it was based on Journey to the West, a well-known 16th century Chinese novel. My knowledge on said novel is very limited, having learned of it from playing Bookworm Adventures 2 when I was a kid and watching gameplay of Rabbids: Party of Legends in 2022. I knew who the Monkey King was, but I hadn't heard of his "official" name - Sun Wukong - until the DLC's first trailer.
After waiting a little over a month, I finally got my hands on the DLC. As expected, I wasn't disappointed.
Plot
During a relaxing game of checkers, the heroic King Denas and evil sorcerer Vez'nan get interrupted by the legendary Sun Wukong. He tells them that the three Demon Kings (Red Boy, Princess Iron Fan and the Bull Demon King) have stolen all of his Celestial Spheres, draining Wukong of most of his strength. With such incredible power in the grasp of evil, all of the kingdoms are in trouble as a result! Fortunately, the alliance between Denas and Vez'nan knows a thing or two about world-ending threats, so they join Sun Wukong on his journey across multiple islands to defeat the three Demon Kings and reclaim the Celestial Spheres before it's too late. Vez'nan seems to have other ideas though...
Gameplay
Like everything else Kingdom Rush-related, the Wukong's Journey DLC requires players to build towers alongside roads to stop enemies from reaching the exits. Troops such as Reinforcements and barrack towers can be placed on the battlefield to fight against the oncoming foes. Powerful units that can be moved freely across the map are also available, known as heroes. Just like the base game of Alliance, two heroes can be brought into battle, each one with their own incredible Hero Spell to use at the player's command. If the classic but not repetitive base gameplay isn't broken, don't fix it!
The DLC itself takes place across five unique islands filled with varied baddies and helpful elements to use to your advantage. By purchasing the DLC, not only do you unlock the new stages and make six achievements available, but the hero Sun Wukong and tower Bamboo Masters join the battle as well. The latter two are able to be used outside of Wukong's Journey too, allowing for more fun to be had! I will discuss everything I had just mentioned in further detail later on in this review.
What I will talk about now though is the beautiful and faithful Chinese theme throughout the DLC's entirety. Sure it's based on Journey to the West, but there are plenty of Chinese culture elements to be seen and heard as you play! All of the enemies you'll encounter fit in with the theme, and there are even mythical creatures to go off against! The soundtrack is incredible and sounds exactly like something you'd hear in a Chinese film. Have a listen to the official OST yourself! Parts of it are very relaxing, but there are others that suit the epic battles within some levels. All in all, Wukong's Journey is a very faithful and amazing tribute to Chinese culture.
Elemental Holders
Wukong's Journey introduces the Elemental Holders, a brand new mechanic exclusive to the DLC. Some holders (spots where you can build towers) have containers on them. By paying 150 gold, you will gain access to a powered-up spot to unleash the element's powers! Each stage has a unique element, and they all have active and passive abilities to support your defenses:
- Wood: Increases the range of the tower and occasionally grows vines in a wide area on the path, slowing and slightly damaging enemies within range.
- Fire: Increases the damage of the tower and instantly kills an enemy within range every so often.
- Water: Has a watery aura around the tower, healing all allied units within its range constantly. The element also occasionally teleports enemies back down the path.
- Earth: Increases the HP of tower units and summons Stone Warriors to block and fight enemies.
- Metal: Reduces the construction cost of the tower (but not special abilities) and steals gold from enemies every so often.
The abilities are all impressive, but what I like most is the variety the elements have to offer! For example, Water and Earth are more tailored towards troops as they increase survivability. Metal on the other hand is fantastic for expensive towers like Tricannon and Eldritch Channeler, allowing more powerful towers to be built quicker and cheaper. Different towers benefit from different elements, so the game encourages players to change their lineups and bring in towers that will benefit from them the most. Specific strategies aren't forced on players in any way, so not everyone will do the same things in each level. That's good!
Sun Wukong
No way, Sun Wukong joins as a Linirean hero! The Monkey King himself sports average HP and solid damage. His attacks deal true damage, bypassing armor and magic resistance, which is so nice to have! What's even better is that Wukong might strike enemies 2-3 times with his Jingu Bang (the staff he has), dealing more damage than described. Because of this, his DPS (damage per second) is quite high. Being on the Linirean side, Sun Wukong makes towers cost less gold to build, which I prefer over Dark heroes making towers deal slightly more damage. Wukong is also one of the fastest heroes in the game, as he rides on a cloud when traveling long distances, allowing for easy micromanagement to get in and out of the fray.
Despite his HP, Wukong is kinda frail. He has more than Nyru and Therien, but he has no armor, meaning he can still die easily if left unattended, especially with so many high-damaging enemies present in the DLC. He's not meant to tank against stronger threats but rather to deal as much damage as possible. To make up for this, Wukong has a shorter respawn time, but losing him is still problematic. With all the Linirean Towers I build, each one increases his max HP, so he can survive better if many are around.
Like all the other heroes, Sun Wukong has four special abilities and a Hero Spell. I'll briefly go over each one!
- Hair Clones: Summons two lookalikes that block and fight enemies for several seconds or until they lose all their HP. While the clones themselves aren't strong, they do help with stalling more enemies at chokepoints, and you can't go wrong with that!
- Zhu's Apprentice: Zhu Bajie, Sun Wukong's loyal companion, follows the Monkey King wherever he goes. This little pig blocks and fights enemies that are near, so he can basically be treated as a permanent Hair Clone. Like the clones, his stats are unimpressive. If he does happen to die, he will respawn a few seconds later. Zhu Bajie has a surprise however; on each attack he does, there is a small chance that he will become buff and slam down on his target for a strong area damage attack! I think this is a fine ability, but it's the most unreliable of the bunch because RNG (random number generator, refers to chance-based things in video games) is involved. Sometimes Zhu might not perform his strong attacks, and he may even die while in the middle of performing one. Still, he's a blocker who sticks around for almost all of the time, and that's good enough. If I was a developer, I would make it so that Zhu becomes buff every 3-5 hits and become invincible while buffed. It's a nitpick because the buff does occur somewhat often, but RNG is still RNG.
- Pole Barrage: Launches the Jingu Bang into the air, multiplying it in several poles that fall on enemies, each one dealing small area damage and stunning enemies hit. This is Wukong's crowd control tool, as it allows him to severely injure a group of enemies or strike at ones from a distance. More than one pole can hit an enemy, so if all of them were to land in the same area, the damage can really add up! Because each pole stuns enemies, it can also be used to interrupt enemies from moving or performing special abilities. The cooldown is in the shorter side too, and overall it's a solid ability. I make sure the poles strike a large clump of foes rather than spaced-out ones to have as much damage as possible.
- Jingu Bang Technique: Sun Wukong leaps high up into the air and slams down upon a foe with an enlarged Jingu Bang, instantly killing the target and dealing somewhat high area damage around the impact area. This ability right here is Wukong's best move and my personal favorite of what he has to offer! Up until the DLC, no other hero in the game had an outright instant-kill ability that can destroy any enemy no matter how much HP they have, so Wukong stands out in this regard. It also pairs well with the hero's great mobility, so he can get to a dangerous foe such as a Wuxian or Tempest Spirit, have Wukong kill the enemy, and then move back to safety or a chokepoint. This ability also rewards players who pay attention and micromanage well, as using it to kill a weak enemy will result in wasted potential. This ability has the longest cooldown too, so I made sure to save it for the biggest baddies so I wouldn't have to deal with them. The AOE damage from it is also a nice bonus if other enemies happen to be nearby. Overall, it's incredible! Awesome you may say!
- The White Dragon: Sun Wukong's Hero Spell! When used, the White Dragon bursts down into the ground with tremendous force, dealing very high true damage and applying a slowing effect to enemies struck. The slowing effect also lasts for a second or two after the White Dragon strikes. What can I say? It's a standard AOE Hero Spell that deals great damage with a bonus slowing effect. The slowing effect itself isn't much, but the damage itself is the main focus. I also appreciate that it does true damage and can hit flying enemies. The White Dragon compliments well with the Hair Clones and Zhu Bajie, allowing for many foes to be grouped up for a Hero Spell. The bottom line is, I really like it!
Not related to his abilities, but I like Sun Wukong's voice and lines. Sometimes I find myself saying "It's me, again and again!" from time to time. I'm also surprised that he (along with the Bamboo Masters, which I'll go over in a bit) has dubbed lines in Chinese! This is a first for Kingdom Rush, as everything before this DLC has everyone speaking English no matter what the language is set to. All of the text was in the selected language, but not the voices. I appreciate the inclusion of Chinese-dubbed lines; it really bolsters the Chinese theme!
Overall, Sun Wukong is a fantastic edition and perfect for the DLC! With so many armored and magic-resistant enemies here, Wukong shines against any foe that doesn't deal massive damage. Wukong has variety with his abilities, making him useful for pretty much any situation. Once again, his instakilling Jingu Bang Technique is the best thing about him, and it especially helps that there are many powerful foes to target with it. I do wish Wukong could attack flying enemies, but at least his Hero Spell can! You can't have everything... even though that would be nice. Maybe that'd make him too overpowered. Easily one of my favorite heroes in the franchise and possibly the best "free" hero in Kingdom Rush Alliance. Uh... it's a tough call between him and Kratoa honestly.
Bamboo Masters
The new tower included with the DLC is the Bamboo Masters, a trio of pandas with Elemental powers. They function like a typical barracks tower, having three units that block and fight enemies until they lose all of their HP. If that were to happen, it would take several seconds for the killed troops to respawn. The Bamboo Masters sound similar to the Paladin Covenant, but they're not identical! The pandas never die, instead retreating to the tower to temporarily attack foes with projectiles before jumping back into battle a few seconds later. The player can also command the three pandas to return to the tower, in which they'll attack foes with their elements for 8 seconds before returning to fight enemies. Once they're sent to the tower, the process cannot be canceled, but they can be sent as many times as the player wishes, as there is no cooldown. I didn't find myself using their retreat ability a lot; it's OK, but I'd rather have the pandas fight enemies like barracks should. I only ever used it when flying enemies were nearby, enemies the pandas cannot block or attack while on the road.
Once the Bamboo Masters reach the fourth tier however, they gain three special abilities, one for each Panda and all having two tiers that both cost the same gold amount: 150 then 200 (100 instead if the "Favorite Customer" upgrade is purchased). This makes them the first (and so far, only) tower in the game to have three abilities. Like with Sun Wukong, I will briefly discuss each ability and provide my thoughts on them and the tower as a whole!
- Hat Trick: The green panda throws her hat at an enemy, dealing a solid amount of true damage and ricocheting to other nearby enemies. The second tier increases the damage dealt. This ability has a short cooldown and really helps against flying enemies, but not so much against others. It's not bad, but the other abilities are more interesting and helpful, but I still get the first tier of this one if I have gold to spare.
- Lightning Overload: The blue panda strikes a group of enemies with three lightning bolts, each dealing average damage and stunning struck enemies for a few seconds. The second tier increases the damage dealt. While this ability has a longer cooldown and potentially less damage than Hat Trick, it's worth purchasing for the stun alone. Even the biggest foes (besides bosses of course) can't escape the stun! The second tier is very effective against hordes of Flame Guards or Water Spirits due to their low HP. I like it more than Hat Trick, and I especially love that flying enemies can be targeted by the lightning, but it requires multiple of them for the ability to trigger.
- Nether Flame: The red panda slams the ground with fire, dealing low damage and teleporting a few enemies back down the path. The second tier increases the damage dealt, which still isn't much at all. Oh boy, I have a lot to say about this one! Slower enemies will never get past the Bamboo Masters because the cooldown for this ability is so short, so by the time they get back they'll just be teleported again. Nether Flame also acts as a double-edged sword; for most of the time it's amazing, but other times, it can make killing the enemies take longer and so the next wave will occur before the ones of the previous one all die. I've also found myself wasting Hero Spells because the enemies were teleported right when the spell was cast, "saving" the enemies from destruction. This is especially evident in the last stage because of all the big and powerful enemies the level has. It's also useless against bosses, and the second tier is worthless. Despite the negatives, I still purchase the ability to give me breathing room to prevent chokepoints from being overwhelmed.
The Bamboo Masters sound broken on paper, but they're not overpowered. Their stalling power is incredible because of their short respawn time, Lightning Overload stuns, and of course, the Nether Flame teleport. That doesn't mean the Paladin Covenant is useless because of them! I compared their stats, and level four Paladins have more HP and medium armor, while the pandas have slightly less HP and no armor. The Paladins' abilities are focused on stalling enemies for as long as possible, so they can fight against larger threats like Tempest Spirits for much longer than the Bamboo Masters. Paladins are also less expensive than the pandas.
But with three abilities and a "tower" mode, the Bamboo Masters are the most unique tower in the game, and maybe even the entire franchise. Much practice and training is needed to see the true power of their awesomeness. This tower requires high skill to utilize it to its fullest potential, and being a Kingdom Rush expert, I loved the challenge required for using it in different situations. Essentially, this is an "easy to use, hard to master" tower, further increasing the strategy factor the franchise is known for. I love that! And not to mention - Chinese voice lines like Sun Wukong!
Stages
Wukong's Journey features five new stages jam-packed with action and excitement. Each stage has something interesting to offer!
- Celestial Monkey Forest: The first stage of the campaign, featuring the Wood element. Fire-based enemies are the main threat here. As the stage progresses, large balls of fire crash down onto the ground, burning the environment and opening up new paths for enemies! That sounds scary, but the local monkeys won't put up with the destruction of their home! Starting from wave 4, you'll gain access to a fountain that'll strike with geysers of water all around it when clicked/tapped, dealing massive damage to foes literally made out of fire, like Fire Foxes and Zhuques. After activating the fountain, a monkey must set it up again, which takes time. I was surprised by this level because first stages typically serve as an introduction for what's to come, but here new paths were opening and many enemies were introduced! It's a nice start that sets the stage and mood for the later levels.
- Fire Dragon Cave: Stage two of the DLC, featuring the first Demon King - Red Boy, and he's got a dragon! The Fire element is present here, as well as more fire-themed foes. Throughout the level, Red Boy commands the dragon to breathe fire on towers, engulfing them in lava and temporarily disabling them as a result. Engulfed towers can be extinguished immediately by spending 100 gold, but I'd rather keep my gold instead. Red Boy also bombards entire paths with large fireballs, killing all units caught in the attack and burning the ground afterwards, which hurts allies while benefiting enemies. If that wasn't enough, Red Boy is fighting as a boss! Visually, this is one of the best-looking levels in all of Kingdom Rush, and I found great use in a tower I don't usually bring with me to battle, the Rocket Gunners. Because they're troops operating away from the tower, they can still attack enemies even while their HQ is in flames. They're also protected from the burning ground because they're flying in the air! Such an intense stage that kept me on my toes and allowed me to see an underrated tower shine.
- Tempest Island: The third stage of the campaign, and also my second-favorite! The Water element is here, and water-based enemies replace the fire ones. This harbor is full of life with the citizens exiting buildings located throughout the map and proceeding towards the single exit. It looks peaceful at the start, but storms brew as the stage goes on, causing lightning to strike the structures, creating new spots to build towers! The lightning also hurts units and spawns Water Spirits and Tempest Spirits, so watch out! One citizen also bangs on a drum on specific waves, signalling the arrival of a large vessel carrying enemies aboard it. There are also hongbaos floating in the water. Click/tap on one to earn 5 gold! Like I said earlier, this is my second favorite stage of the DLC because of everything I mentioned, especially the additions of more building spots as progress is made. The hongbaos are fun to look at too!
- The Eye of the Storm: Stage number 4, starring Princess Iron Fan as the second boss! You'll have to use the Earth element to your advantage while dealing with Iron Fan's water forces. The layout is the most interesting of the five, because enemies coming from specific paths must enter pools of water that'll transport them to another location on the battlefield. Of course, Princess Iron Fan has a few tricks up her sleeve! She can summon water enemies directly from the pools, or temporarily dry them up to summon sandy/muddy warriors in big groups. The boss can also attempt to trap heroes in flasks temporarily, but this can be avoided by moving the targeted hero while Iron Fan prepares the spell. To top it all off, she can also turn towers into sand castles, disabling them for several seconds and spawning enemies from them too! Princess Iron Fan is not one to be messed around with. This is yet another level I really enjoyed, and the fight against the boss is the best part about it. I sometimes let my guard down and get one of my heroes captured... my bad!
- The Demon King Stronghold: The fifth and final stage has the alliance storming the Bull Demon King's fortress and confronting him in battle! The Metal element is featured here, as well as both fire and water enemies PLUS the Bull Demon King's own forces! Red Boy and Princess Iron Fan return for one heck of a stage filled to the brim with excitement and danger. Like Tempest Island, more tower spots open up as the stage progresses, this time thanks to cannonballs destroying the Bull Demon King's property! Obviously he doesn't like it, so he commands his family (yes, they're all related) to open up fire and water portals that summon enemies corresponding to their elements. Additionally, he tells them to use their abilities to hinder you: bombarding an entire path with fireballs or trapping a hero in a flask. And then when it's all over, there's the final showdown against the Bull Demon King himself! This is my favorite stage of them all and a strong contender for the best stage in the franchise. No words can describe how awesome of an experience this was on the first playthrough. Seriously, you gotta see what happens!
As you can tell, I love all of the stages - not one of them is bad or mediocre! They are all memorable in their own way. The difficulty was perfect as well - not too easy, but not too hard where it was unfair. Perfect!
Enemies and bosses
Wukong's Journey contains over 20 new enemies to go off against. Holy moly that's a lot, right? The enemies themselves are sided with either Red Boy's Fire army, Princess Iron Fan's Water army, or the Bull Demon King. For the sake of not dragging this section out for too long, I'm only going to go over four notable enemies.
- Nine-Tailed Fox: It's the mythical Nine-Tailed Fox, and no, this isn't from PokƩmon or Naruto. One of the strongest and fearsome fire enemies, this fox shouldn't be treated as a joke! It has pretty high HP with medium magic resistance, plus devastating area attacks that'll wipe out weaker soldiers with ease while severely injuring even the strongest of heroes. To make things even worse, these fearsome foxes have the ability to burrow underground and emerge a short distance down the path, creating an impact that stuns all allies in range, allowing the Nine-Tailed Fox to continue without issues. Thankfully they lose this ability when close to an exit, so fighting them near one is a viable strategy I've done. Of course, with how dangerous they are, I sometimes made sure to deal with them as soon as they appear, like using an Eldritch Channeler's Mutation Hex ability to polymorph them into harmless sheep, or kill them outright with Sun Wukong's instakill. This enemy made sure I was paying attention to when they appear, and it only helped my engagement with the DLC!
- Wuxian: Large bearded masters of fire that cast fiery rings at great distances to snipe troops from afar, scorching the ground for several seconds afterwards, burning those who survive the attack itself. They have high HP as well, but instead of Magic Resistance they have armor, making mages better choices to defeat them. Wuxians gain a powerful "Kamehameha" attack when standing on burning ground, dealing massive melee area damage to whoever's unfortunate enough to fight them while in this state. The main threat comes from their extremely long-distance ring attacks, and my Bamboo Masters have gotten sniped several times due to my carelessness. As with Nine-Tailed Foxes, I made sure to deal with them quickly, as while they don't have as much attack power as the Nine-Tailed Foxes, they more than make up for it with their ranged attacks.
- Water Master: These water-based mages are smaller and have much less HP than Wuxians (but still have nice beards!) but they focus on supporting other enemies instead of destroying troops. If a unit is within range, they'll attack with water projectiles, which aren't very strong and have shorter range than Wuxians' rings, but they attack much more often. Water Masters are supporting enemies because they have the ability to cast waves of water in a wide area of the path in front of them, damaging your troops while greatly healing enemies. The healing power is unexpectedly strong, so they're very dangerous if they're behind groups of foes. They also sport medium magic resistance, but this doesn't really help them out. Due to their low HP, I send Sun Wukong to fight and kill them before they become problems. It's nice to see an enemy that directly supports other enemies - it adds to the large enemy variety here!
- Fan Guard: Servants of Princess Iron Fan that fight with, well, fans! Their HP is somewhat high, and they deal moderate damage, but what sets them apart from other enemies is their unique protection ability. While they're not blocked, Fan Guards gain medium armor and Magic Resistance, which encourages players to block them to deal as much damage as possible before they return to guarding. I let them reach my Bamboo Masters before I bring the pain - usually with an Arborean Emissary to increase the damage dealt to them! While many enemies in this campaign can easily destroy barracks, the inclusion of one that encourages the use of barracks is a welcome addition.
These are just four of the many foes encountered! You'll have to see what the others have to offer, but let me tell you that some of them have pretty crazy powers. Trust me!
Easter Eggs and surprises
Ironhide Game Studio is known for incorporating plenty of pop-culture references in their games, and the same applies here. In the first stage, Celestial Monkey Forest, there is a tortoise holding a stick with peaches growing on it. When clicked/tapped on, a peach will fall on the tortoise, causing him to poke his head out. Clicking/tapping on him more will cause him to slowly perform poses. Further actions cause the tortoise to disappear in cherry blossom petals. I instantly recognized the tortoise as a direct reference to the character Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda.
The Bamboo Masters' fourth tier gives them attire that resembles Mortal Kombat characters Kung Lao, Raiden and Scorpion. This is no mere coincidence, as their abilities reflect these characters. Furthermore, the lightning panda and fire panda say "Ayumbabayee!" and "Get over there!" respectively. The former references Raiden's "scream" when he performs his Electric Fly attack, and "Get over there" is a play on Scorpion's "Get over here!"
Of course, there are more secrets and Easter Eggs to be found. I'm not going to spoil them all! Fans of Kingdom Rush Frontiers will enjoy the cameo appearance of one particular hero in each of the five stages - but I won't tell who it is. You have to see for yourself!
Conclusion
Kingdom Rush Alliance's Wukong's Journey DLC is the most chaotic and fun experience I've ever had in a Kingdom Rush game, like ever! Sun Wukong and the Bamboo Masters are very fun to have around, and with so many enemies and mechanics to account for, the same strategy won't carry players through every stage. It allows for more strategy and the use of towers/heroes not normally used, such as the Rocket Gunners for Fire Dragon Cave. That's what a strategy game should do; make players critically think about all of their options and use them to their fullest potential!
I have beaten all stages and their Heroic and Iron Challenges on Impossible Difficulty, so I speak from experience. This is essential for any TD fan and I assure you that the cost of $5/$8 is so worth it. It's a 10/10, and I do not mind waiting several months for the last few updates of Alliance if they're all going to maintain this level of quality!
Elemental Enemies
Written by: Boo1268
Hello there, readers of The 'Shroom. It is I, Boo1268 the Fancy Phantom, back here again with another edition of Elemental Enemies. This is the series where I look into the variety of big bads featured in Skylanders: Trap Team and see how these respective villains fit their types. As the days get shorter and the nights become longer darkness creeps into the corners of our life with only the light of a fireplace or family to help us see. As such let's cover the last two elements in this saga, those being the Dark element and the Light element so we can bundle up and have some fall fun!
(If you want to get to the explanations then please skip ahead, but to those who are new, let me give some context):
In Skylanders: Trap Team, the main gimmick was that using a special crystal insert and the respective crystal element, you could capture some of the villains of the game and play as them for a short period of time, and in the game, certain villains could only be captured with a trap of their element. So, being inspired by Lockston & Gnogginās PokĆ©mon Type Explained videos, I am here to answer the question of how some of the villains fit into their respective element.
Now how this works is that we will be looking into what makes each villain their respective type. Things such as design, abilities, villain quests, lore, personality, etc. Each villain wonāt go in any sort of order, but it tends to be that villains that most suit their type and have the most detailed explanation are at the top, and the villains that are the least connected, or more rather should NOT be connected (if specifically stated), go at the bottom. But now, with that out of the way, join me as I try my best to explain my reasonings.
It's time to darken the Skylands with the dark villains, and for this group, we have:
Tae Kwon Crow: Originally known as Hawkmongus, this ninja is the pure definition of a shinobi. He attacks with a katana and ninja stars, and has traditional ninja garb. His upgraded costume involves black and blue garments since real ninjas wear blue, and his villain quest involves him moving fast. All this to say that Tae Kwon Crow is a perfect ninja, and since ninjas are most known for being in the shadows and were meant to be seen without a trace, the dark element fits him perfectly. (Bonus: he's also a good fire sensei in Imaginators, since ninjas not only like to use guns, which utilise fire, but also ninjas loved to use fire for multiple things from communication to distractions, even as a rite of passage. So yeah, great dark villain, great fire sensei, but finally AMAZING NINJA).
Nightshade: Nightshade is a master thief who can slink into the shadows without a trace and can steal anything without anybody noticing, and he has a voice like a James Bond character, and since James Bond involves spies, this also correlates. So yeah, the dark element fits him perfectly.
Eye-Scream: We all scream for Eye-Scream, but not for good reasons. The only connection she has to the dark element is that since she's a creature of the night she covers her face, and besides looking like the Ring girl when a large amount of hair blocks your face, it makes it seem like you "can't see anything". Also there's emo night again, but besides that, nothing else links Eye-Scream to the dark element, but at least she's better than...
Fisticuffs: He's another wooden robot, so that's not a great start, but what's worse is that NOTHING besides his name implications makes him a dark villain. His powers? Nope. His villain quest? Nada. His personality? Nuh uh. The only thing he has going for his is that his name refers to the dirty fighting art of fisticuffs which is a tool/fighting style using typically by mobsters and crooks who are commonly found in alleyways and committing dark acts. But then again, this is all speculation, and more light will need to be put onto this topic for it to truly count.
Speaking of light, it's time to light up our life with the light element. So for this final group, we have:
Luminous: He is an entity seemingly made of pure light and absolutely hates the darkness. He not only uses light crystals, but also uses the power of a pure star to enable him. Plus, he acts like a āsuper starā.
Eye Five: Eye Five may seem strange, and while his moves and villain quest don't fit him much, the fact that he has bright colors and you normally use your eyes to see different rays of light and other things you can only see in the daytime, this seemingly fits.
Blaster-Tron: Blaster-Tron's a robot from the far future of Skylands, and most of his moves and villain quest involve the use of his electromagnetism and summoning of plasma which is a form of light and light/energy manipulation. Besides being a robot, Blaster-Tron is very basic, all things considered.
Lob Goblin: Lob Goblin is the villain that should LEAST be in the light element. Not only does he use mines, but even though they're electric magnet mines, he involves electricity more than magnets. Despite his in-game art having him wear a magnet, his profile art does not. But other than the magnet connection, he doesn't have much connecting him. In truth, he would more fit the fire or tech element if anything.
Well it looks like it's the finale folks, sort of. Besides one last big bad guy we have no one else, but in place of that, I have a special surprise alongside Kaos I'll be giving you on the final issue of Elemental enemies. But before that, thank you for all the support on the last issue. I'm really glad you enjoy this series, and if you have any opinions on these villains don't hesitate to talk about it on the official/original thread. So until then, see you next time portal masters, and as always: Merci, au revoir!
Written by: Hypnotoad (talk)
Main art by: GBAToad (talk)
Pumpkin spice canāt hold up the spirit of an entire season for too long, and never has. Harvests in the fall (in northern hemisphere temperate climates) give us pears, cranberries, sweet potatoes, nuts, plenty more squash than just pumpkin. Visiting apple orchards to pick ripe bushels and drink fresh cider was something I did as a kid still living in an area that experienced leaf senescence, along with enjoying the smell of concord grapes ready to stomp into wine and make into pies. Heavily spiced meals would accompany year-end holidays and feasts, with many traditions including warmer spices like cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ginger, pepper. Hearty, warm, filling, and communal, flavors of this season encourage getting together, being together, eating together, preparing for the incoming winter and surviving long cold months.
Evolution Fresh Organic Spiced Apple Cider
Once independent, then bought by Starbucks in 2011, and now owned by Bolthouse Farms as of 2022 to essentially take the place of their own failed cold-pressed juice, Evolution Fresh is a successful beverage company founded by the same guy who founded Naked Juice before selling that off to PepsiCo. An effect of this latest acquisition is an expanded retail footprint and streamlined distribution system, meaning Evolution Fresh products will be available in many more locations with resources to keep up with the expansion.
Evolution Fresh already has an apple juice, but the difference between apple juice and apple cider is that cider is unfiltered and tends to have a more hearty and tangy taste; their Spiced Apple Cider going further by adding cinnamon and nutmeg. Spiced cider always has me nervous because it more often than not is way too heavy on the spice to the point that itās just really gross with both taste and texture, and I tend to just prefer the unbothered taste of apple, but I have had spiced ciders Iāve liked before. Not as tart as apple cider could be, and I appreciate that; it stayed sweet and flavorful without making my face implode. Thatās not to say the flavor isnāt bold, it still absolutely is, but I donāt think itās anything surprising or outside what youād expect from an unfiltered apple cider. The cinnamon and nutmeg is very visible and very thickly deposited on the bottom of the bottle, but seems to disperse easily when shaking without settling too quickly. The flavor is strong enough that it being 32 fl oz (one quart) is actually a fine size, where the recommended serving size of 8 fl oz actually feels accurate. Itās recommended to try this hot, so I did, and I think I like it better this way not just because Iām having incredibly painful tooth sensitivity to cold but because it has the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors blend into the cider into something thatās greater than the sum of its parts while toning down the immediate tang of the apple.
I saw this at Whole Foods for $8.99 regular retail per quart, on sale for $7.77 and $6.99 with Prime, which is prohibitively expensive; half gallons of fresh real apple cider are currently around $6.99 and gallons of some of the best stuff being available regularly around like $4.99. So why is this one double, triple, quadruple the price? Evolution Fresh is considered super-premium juice based on its particular beverage category, using a pressurized process called pascalization to eliminate pathogens that allow it a much longer shelf-life than any other non-pasteurized fresh juice. Non-GMO Project verified, USDA Organic, but 27g of sugar per serving which is close to the recommended daily limit for most adults, though thatās still less than what youād get from a traditional big name soda can. I currently donāt see any reviews for this product, only seeing short videos that are either disclosed as paid advertisement or just very obviously are one, all dating back to either summer 2024 or Q4 2025, leading me to believe this is relatively new and just not something pretty much anyone cares about. While this tastes good and fine I think apple cider is just something that has a lot more tradition behind it with getting the big plastic gallon jugs of it fresh from orchards and would just be a pretty difficult market to force your way into. Itās just not something I imagine many people caring about being āsuper-premiumā or hitting all kinds of health goals as itās just accepted as a seasonal treat to indulge heavily in, and especially at that horrific price point customers who are willing to pay that would likely just lean towards other flavors that max out health and virtue goals that this one just simply doesnāt. Not bad, just not necessary except to serve as proof of concept for high pressure processing.
Califia Farms Organic Maple Almond Creamer
By this point I feel like I couldāve just had a Califia Farms review theme for two solid months, but I donāt think thereās many more ways I can describe a taste that is accurate to the name; certainly a flaw in food reviews, but means success for the product. I could say pretty much the same exact thing as I said about this as I did last month with their Organic Pumpkin Spice Creamer, except this time itās maple.
Almond base, simple ingredient list, using maple syrup and brown sugar as the primary flavoring. Growing up near the Canadian border in New York I had a lot of maple-flavored things, maple candies, etc., and to me it was just always a bit harsh of a flavor; definitely no salmiakki but with a sharp richness that hits closer to coffee shop caramel drizzles. The Califia Farms maple creamer lands somewhere closer to pancake maple syrup, likely helped by the brown sugar rounding out the sweetness, with nuttiness from the almonds really supporting it as a whole thing and not just a flavored syrup. Simple flavor, but does the job well, impressing someone who typically avoids maple-flavored things. Not much else to say about this, though it does confirm what I said last month that this line of organic creamers is pretty great in general but especially compared to their non-organic items, and Iām now wanting to try their lavender one.
Califia Farms Horchata
New as of 2025, and part of the same set as the organic almond creamers, the Califia Farms Horchata stands alone unique as a complete ready-to-drink blend using almond and rice milk. Why this is a fall seasonal limited edition item is beyond me; the only thing I can imagine is itās tangential to eggnog in that itās a dairy-like creamy beverage with cinnamon in it. If anything it should be a summer special, as others have figured out, as itās more of a refreshing beverage and agua fresca. Horchata comes in several varietiesāsome plant-based, some with milkābut the one thatās most popular in Mexico (and subsequently the United States) is horchata de arroz. I first tried horchata (or, at least, horchata-esque almondmilk) for my first set of milk reviews what feels like 40 years ago before I knew much of anything at all, and Iāve been thinking of it every day ever since. Horchata is made with rice, cinnamon, and sugar, which Califia Farmsā version has, with an almondmilk base to give it the non-vegan cream twist re-veganified; of course, along with sunflower lecithin and gellan gum to give it that extra oomph.
Looks completely separated, but the bottle does warn that settling is natural and to shake it well. After I throttle the container vigorously it turns into the very pale brown liquid I was expecting. Very creamy with a touch of grittiness, as I still see some pieces floating around, but it tastes very good; a nice balance between refreshing and heavy. I feel like it could lean thicker or thinner and end up being better, but Iām not upset about where it sits. The cinnamon is soft and pleasant, and the almondmilk brings a nuttiness that has the whole drink tasting almost like pastries. Press releases say itās sweet and subtly spiced, and I can confirm the accuracy of that. Every picture I see of horchata has ice cubes in it, so I tried it with that and itās certainly different. Obviously, a bit more watery as the ice melts into it, and the cold chill mutes the cinnamon flavor a little bit, but I still enjoy it and pretty much chugged my glass of it. It was noticeable that the chunks didnāt settle between the 12 hours of trying the first time and trying it with ice, and it felt smoother as if the tiny pieces dissolved or worked their way in after being unclogged from the bottom. Itās pretty incredible how rare finding ready-to-drink horchata is in most stores, with specialty Mexican grocery stores being the only reliable chance, which luckily I have access to plenty of high quality stores due to living in Florida.
This isnāt Califia Farmsā first foray into horchata, having previously sold a vanilla coconut horchata, and Iām skeptical on if the coconut wouldāve been any good with this, and since itās no longer available Iām assuming market investors thought so too. It's interesting to me that Califia Farms jumped back into trying horchata because of market trends that they were just too early for before, acknowledging the mainstreaming of Latin-inspired beverages and aguas frescas. I enjoyed this current version enough that Iād argue for it to become a permanent item rather than limited, and nearly every review on their own page says just as much, so hereās hoping.
Trader Joeās Salted Maple Cold Foam Creamer
Cold foam creamers are not something Iāve tried yet, but itās basically just an aerosol canāmuch like whipped creamāthat bypasses the frothing step thatās become a popular and lasting coffee trend. Just spray it on top of your coffee and youāve suddenly got a foamy creamer on top you can sip through or mix in. The difference between this and whipped cream is that cold foam creamer use nonfat milk that creates a lighter and more stable foam thatās well-suited for cold coffee, but can also maintain its structure on hot drinks, though whipped cream and its heavy cream base has richer and creamier flavor. Trader Joeās still says their Salted Maple Cold Foam Creamer is rich, and Iām assuming thatās due to additional thickeners and emulsifiers like soy lecithin, cellulose gel, and cellulose gum that help keep the fat molecules together and specifically designed to have low-fat foods feel richer and creamier.
Starting off by spraying some onto my finger to taste and itās readily apparent that this is a creamer and not whipped cream as it maintains no shape at all, instead quickly melting onto my hand. This displays exactly what I meant in my Califia Farms Organic Maple Almond Creamer review with how maple can taste sharp, and I believe it being salted is whatās doing that because the more I think on it the less I believe I actually tasted any maple and instead just caramelized sugar and salt. I love salt, itās great on all kinds of things, sometimes I use way too much, sometimes I just lick it out of my hand like a horse, but sometimes itās just not necessary. When this foam creamer is used as intended on cold coffee, though, it stays pretty stable as a thick layer of creamy foam, slowly dissolving into the coffee to serve as a standard creamer, but still keeping a good head even with a normal amount of stirring and agitation. Before I sampled this I had the idea of using this as I would any other whipped cream, and though it became quickly obvious itās not stable in that particular form I still had my mind set on trying it. While I do have constant access to pumpkin pie I already know that itād just end up being a sloppy mess, but I also have ample access to baked treats, and dunking a canelĆ© in it tasted pretty good.
By the time it mostly dissolved into the coffee the taste had become completely indistinguishable from any other salted caramel flavor, and even before that I could hardly tell it was supposed to be maple. On one hand I appreciated this because it made the flavor rather approachable and flexible in use, but on the other hand it lacked any identity that made me feel it was worth it and left me really only able to focus on analyzing the physical properties of the foam. If maple is to become a seasonal flavor on par with pumpkin spice it really needs to get a personality and profile of its own. Otherwise, I get that itās low calorie and low fat but it couldāve used more sweetness and creaminess, so what I guess I actually wanted was whipped cream.
Nut Pods Candy Corn Coffee Creamer
From humble beginnings as a Kickstarter project to an finding early success with a limited pumpkin spice flavor This particular item was the deciding factor a few months back that made me decide to do autumn-themed reviews, mostly because the saturated colors caught my attention, the New Item sign held it, and my curiosity of how successful this is was impossible to resist.
Confidently launching in July 2025, this is advertised as a non-dairy creamer using almond milk and coconut milk, the ingredients also include primarily cane sugar, and 2% or less of natural flavors, sunflower lecithin, dipotassium phosphate, guar gum, sea salt, and gellan gum, which is pretty much exactly what every other non-dairy creamer has going for it. Vegan, gluten-free, non-gmo, glyphosate residue free, and overall a company really focused on minimizing environmental impact since their debut.
Absolutely does not taste like candy corn, and unfortunately tastes good instead. I was looking forward to something weird and memorable, and instead I just got the most rudimentary sugar and vanilla, which I suppose is what candy corn is, yet marshmallow has the same simple ingredients and manages to have a unique profile that can be replicated as a distinct "flavor". Thereās a problem with using texture-dependent confections as a flavor because itās exceedingly pointlessādifficult, at bestāto translate that to whatās usually a liquid drink. Whatās actually interesting is that candy corn typically is not vegan, due to gelatin in the ingredients of a vast majority of the candy corn produced, yet Nut Pods products are certified vegan and plant-based, reaching the alleged candy corn taste through the little bit of natural flavors. Candy corn is apparently meant to taste like honey, sugar, and vanilla, as well as claims of strawberry though I canāt actually find verification without having to pay for an article. Like, yeah, I get sugar, I get vanilla, even a little of that warm honey sweetness, but none of it really coalesces into something I can confidently claim is ācandy cornā without a heavy dose of self-convincing delusionāand this is with drinking it straight from the bottle. Actually mixed into coffee it doesnāt taste like anything more than milk and sugar, heavy amounts of sweetness that makes me question their whole campaign that this is lightly sweetened, and I think that makes it a successful creamer, but I canāt congratulate it much because the flavor is merely a hallucination suggested by the color of the carton. I canāt really find myself to write more about this because I was honestly just bored and disappointed with this not really being anything different than every other vanilla creamer you can find.
Lenny & Larryās Apple Pie Complete Cookie
So I did a pretty thorough Lenny & Larryās review back in April 2022 and some more in June 2024, where I made a pretty solid decision that the crunchier their items are the better, and very much so the softer they are the worse they are. Well I bought this soft-baked Apple Pie cookie from their Complete Cookie line already knowing I probably wonāt like it, but I had to throw some support behind limited edition seasonal flavors. Their Apple Pie cookie has been around since 2018 so enough people must like it enough!
Soft-baked cookie, which made it easy to break off pieces, but didnāt crumble into a mess. Tell-tale Lenny & Larryās particular taste despite there being no chicory root fiber in here, instead has inulin likely derived from chicory, and Iām not too sure what the difference actually is here. I suppose that it tastes a bit more sweet and less earthy, but itās hard for me to accurately say if those proportions are meaningfully different. Itās actually difficult coming up with anything new to say about this that I didnāt already say about their other Complete Cookies aside from commenting on the apple pie flavor being recognizable and accurate enough. I wouldnāt call it ārichā like the press release does, as attributing that to any apple flavor for me would imply some kind of heavy tartness, but this was just a suggestion of apple Like with their Snickerdoodle the presence of molasses in the ingredients adds a warm sweetness that helps pull the flavor out of the uncanny valley it couldāve easily been stuck in, but like the Chocolate Chip the strange chewiness just isnāt pleasant at all and feels like what play-doh would be if it were baked. I saw recommendations and other reviewers heat it up, but despite getting positive results from heating up Toto cookies Iāve decided that I donāt think I should have to heat a single-serve cookie and then eat it with a fork to have a positive experience, that sounds like a miserable existence and there are just so many other things I could do instead. Overall, the feeling Iām left with after eating this is itching sensations from how dry this was.
I think what wouldāve made this better, and maybe more exciting, is emphasize the baked treat aspect of apple pie. Bring out the cinnamon more, maybe add some more nuance with the spices, I wouldāve enjoyed some added texture with streusel crumbles because I acknowledge adding pecans would fly in the face of their massive list of allergens and things these donāt have. It just doesnāt hit the full fall fantasy that I needed to get from this, I didnāt get apple pie from this, I got apple flavor in a grainy fiber vessel, and I just think we can do much better than that now.
Organic Valley Cinnamon Spice Oat Creamer
After having extremely positive results with Organic Valleyās Reduced Fat Eggnog and seeing vitriolic opinions dismissing it, I am vindicated seeing that it has won Product of the Year in 2024 in the specialty dairy category according to a Consumer Survey of Product Innovation. I hope those awful entitled people are choking on their own bile as we continue having their Reduced Fat Eggnog available in stores, and while Iām still riding on good graces with Organic Valley I did see them start expanding into oat-based beverages, a category I absolutely do not have good experiences with.
Itās interesting to me because Organic Valley is a co-op of dairy farmers, but after some restructuring including layoffs, cutting over a dozen farms, and crowning a new CEO, I assume they had some tough acknowledgments rendering smart moves realizing that dairy milk sales continue trending downwards while alternative options only continue to diversify and strengthen, with oat being the steadfast choice. The logistics of this decision is made easy by their relatively unique co-op structure, able to use existing organic farm partnerships that already produce oats. While I did see their new Oat Beverages pop up in stores and while that seems like something perfectly suited for me to write a review for, theyāre not on sale pricing yet and Iām just not ready for it; what I am ready for, though, is refrigerated holiday endcaps and in Whole Foods they now have Cinnamon Spice Oat Creamer!
Whatās a little interesting here is that itās really not a seasonal product, being a main line item alongside three other flavors of oat-based non-dairy creamers they began to offer in January 2025, but I canāt recall ever seeing them in any refrigerated sets until the Q4 holiday endcaps showed up and only with the cinnamon spice flavor being stocked. Each of the others, with relatively waning arguments, could fit into an autumn or winter mindset: oatmeal cookie, caramel, and vanilla, but the one Iām mostly interested in is the oatmeal cookie flavor because I want to know what minute difference there is in the flavor that makes it not just a regular sweetened oatmilk. Iām overwhelming myselfāand overstocking my fridgeāwith creamers this holiday season, but my curiosity was piqued with this one as it was just cinnamon spice. Not pumpkin spice, not pumpkin pie, not apple spice, not winter mix, holiday blend, but just ācinnamon spiceā, highlighting an integral seasonal powerhouse without pulling the focus away from it too much. As the name implies itās not just cinnamon, with the bottle indicating it has just a hint of cardamom, but the focus is definitely on cinnamon. I have no clue what this person is going on about because cinnamon is absolutelyāno questions askedāthe most obvious and unmistakably forward flavor in this. It lands somewhere between Fireball whiskey and scented brooms on cinnamonās own bouba-kiki spectrum, with Big Red gum being the closest thing Iāve experienced in taste to this. The cinnamon flavor is definitely more noticeable and different, hitting the sharp and spicy notes that make it almost feel hot. After sitting in coffee for a bit it mellows out some, and allows cardamomās more subtle floral notes veering this a little fruity, but is still recognizably different from other blends that just utilize cinnamon rather than platform it.
Itās important for me to restate that this is an oat creamer, its base is oat milk, and I didnāt hate it. The oat flavor that permeates nearly every other oat-based product just wasnāt here, not even in the aftertaste, not even when chugging the creamer straight from the bottle. It might be due to how strong the cinnamon is, but I greatly appreciate it and more oatmilk dealers need to figure out how to do this.
Trader Joeās All Butter Apple Shortbread Cookies
Itās always a little intimidating writing reviews on Trader Joeās items because there are HUNDREDS of blogs and videos of every single Fearless Flyer and limited time items, not to speak of how active their subreddit is with reviews. Itās also difficult to select seasonal items from Trader Joeās to review because theyāre incredible with developing and marketing limited seasonal things with a ton of hype behind all of them, steering me towards accumulating a dozen things before suddenly my entire review is Trader Joeās. After several laps around the store contemplating if I want to spend another $70 on things Iāll end up cutting from the review and not actually eat for several months, I opted for just getting my usual TJās items and the All Butter Apple Shortbread Cookies.
Opening the box and plastic pouch the shortbread cookies are kept in released a very pleasant apple and butter smell that accurately showcases how it tastes. The apple flavor was definitely there, but not in any obvious way, which worked much to its benefit; no candy apple which I was glad for, and while I wouldāve liked something close to cider it wasnāt quite as punchy as that either. The butter flavor in the shortbread worked itself around the apple very well, complementing it to become something sweet and mild, and a bit savory. The dried apple pieces in there donāt really provide much in terms of texture, and I think Iām ok with that. I appreciated the shortbread cookies being thin, as it helped them be a good level of crisp without too many crumbs splintering off all over my carpet. They paired really well when dunking it into coffee with the Organic Valley Cinnamon Spice Creamer, because apple and cinnamon is just one of those perfect pairings like chocolate and peanut butter.
This is all I really need from fall snacks, and any seasonal thing in general, is something simple that makes me feel cozy and indulgent and wanting to live the full fantasy. If theyāre not immediately sold out and non-existent several weeks out from their attributed holiday like many of Trader Joeās limited time items, Iāll be getting these to add to my ever-growing Thanksgiving charcuterie spread plan.
| The 'Shroom: Issue 224 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes ā¢ The 'Shroom Spotlight ā¢ Poochy's Picks ā¢ Awards Director Election ā¢ The 'Shroom Spooky Scavenger ā¢ Credits |
| Features | Fake News ā¢ Fun Stuff ā¢ Palette Swap ā¢ Pipe Plaza ā¢ Critic Corner ā¢ Strategy Wing |
