![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Jedi: Survivor makes major improvements in gameplay and story
Jedi: Survivor allows players to explore unique, expansive environments in the Star Wars universe.
May 25, 2023
On April 28, 2023, Respawn Entertainment released Jedi: Survivor, the long-awaited sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order. The game stars Jedi Cal Kestis, voiced by Cameron Monaghan, as he and his rebel crew fight against the Empire while on the search for a lost planet. After the release of the first game, some fans were left wanting a continuation of Cal Kestis’ story. The sequel game Jedi: Survivor improves on both gameplay and story elements from its predecessor.
Jedi: Survivor makes several improvements on the gameplay of Fallen Order, the most notable being the addition of five unique lightsaber stances, compared to Fallen Order’s two. Each style offers different strengths and weaknesses, and this adds a welcome sense of variety to lightsaber combat. In addition, the game features several exhilarating action sequences. The expansive, detailed environments help give these sequences a grand, cinematic sense of scale. All of Jedi: Survivor’s open-world environments are beautifully designed, and the game’s impressive graphics immerse the player into the world of the game.
The game also implements several quality-of-life features. In the first game, the screen fades to white when the player meditates. This might have blinded the player if they are in a darker room. Jedi: Survivor effectively addresses this problem, and the new meditation screen has a muted color scheme that is much easier on the eyes. In addition, Respawn implemented a fast travel system, which means players do not have to arduously trek through areas they have already been through, a common complaint with Fallen Order.
However, this game is not without its flaws. Most of the beginning takes place on the same planet, and while it offers a sprawling environment to explore, it does not take advantage of the plethora of unique worlds Star Wars has to offer. Contrastingly, Fallen Order lets the player explore iconic environments such as Dathomir and Kashyyyk, the settings of several moments in the Star Wars canon. In addition, some of the textures have difficulty rendering, especially water. However, this is no surprise, as no new game performs perfectly on its first release.
Similar to Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor’s story is where it really shines. The game takes place five years after Fallen Order, and the characters have all changed accordingly. This is especially visible in Cal Kestis, who has grown up a lot since the events of the first game. The player has been with Cal since he was a lonely teenager on Bracca and has seen him develop. The members of Cal’s crew return, playing a much bigger role in the story than just staying on the ship.
It is clear that Jedi: Survivor masterfully utilizes both gameplay and story aspects to present an exhilarating and entertaining experience. The game immerses the player in the perspective of a Jedi Knight exploring intriguing worlds rich in secrets, and its remarkable gameplay and graphics improve on the story first set up in Jedi: Fallen Order.
This story was originally published on Amador ValleyToday on May 24, 2023.
