Way to Dawn

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

There is something to be said of old turn-based games with pixellated graphics. For many, they hark back to the good old days where things in the world actually made sense. In these halcyon days, things were simple. There was not as much grey in the world because everything was black and white. Unfortunately, as time has passed me by, games have become grittier with worlds as drab and bleak as the one we face in reality. Octopath Traveler, however, is a series that knows exactly how to tap into the nostalgia we have for our childhoods.

When the first game released in 2018, I was immediately hooked. In 2023, the second game came out. Due to the fact I was drowning in far too many lengthy games that released in the back-half of 2022, coupled with an overseas trip, and a host of other compelling titles, I simply could not find the necessary time to sink into Octopath Travler II. Enter January 2024.

After finishing off a few key games like Assassin’s Creed: Mirage and Spider-Man 2 over December, I managed to eke out some time to give Octopath Traveler II my undivided attention. 90+ hours of it, in fact.

While I started with Alfyn in the original Octopath Traverl, this time I decided to go with my gut and pick my favourite class in almost every single role-playing game I’ve ever had the chance to dabble in: a thief. Unlike the happy-go-lucky apothecary, Alfyn, Throne finds herself trapped in an endless cycle of death. Her opening chapter sees her scurrying through the sewers of New Delsta with three other members of her gang, the Black Snakes. As the chapter progress, we see the internal struggle among the members of the gang before Throne is then confronted with a long-time friend as both are keen to escape the chains that bind them.

Despite the bleak nature of this first part, Throne’s story is still one filled with optimism as she fights for freedom and to break free from the cycle that has kept her trapped for all her life.

From there, I slowly recruited the rest of the Travelers, starting off with Temenos and Osvald. From there, I jumped on a ship to Beastling Island, recruited Ochette and moved to the Eastern Continent – nabbing Castti, Hikari, Partitio and Agnea. The journey took me all across the world of Solistia.

Later, as the game progressed, I would hop to and fro from both continents as I chased after each dangling story thread for my odd band of characters.

And while I liked all of the stores, the two that stuck out to me belonged to Partitio and Agnea. Possibly because of how positive their outlooks were, and how undaunted they were of the cruelties inherent in the world. I know others on the internet may disagree but given the state of the world these days, I was in the mood for something light-hearted and fun.

Let’s start with the Dancer shall we?

Agnea is a girl from the village of Cropdale. Her mother was a dancer and, like her, Agnea dreams of becoming a star. Her story, although simple, sees her travel all across the world to show off her dancing talent and bring a smile to people’s faces.

Along the way, she meets a colourful cast of intrepid performers from Gil to Giselle’s Travelling Troupe.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a video game without a villain. And Dolcinaea serves as the perfect foil to Agnea’s optimism. Hers is a tale of hardship growing up in the deserts of Sai, being inspired by Cuani (Agnea’s mother) and working hard to become a star to take her away from her roots. But while she views her past with disdain and wishes to eradicate it, Agnea is there to remind her of the people her actions will affect, culminating in a dance battle at the Grand Gala in the Merry Hills region.

Plus, there’s some fruity goodness along the way with a few key lines between Veronica and Dolcinaea.

Who doesn’t like an uplifting journey, anyways?

As for Paritio…where to begin?

If all merchants were like him, I’d think the world would be a much better place. Growing up in a silver mine, Partitio has experienced both prosperity and the depths of poverty when the former land owner of the silver mine takes back the land and levies a huge tax on the silver that is mined in the area. Crushed underneath the weight of oppressive capitalism, Partitio and his gang of friends push back against the enforcers (including a man named Giff – which felt like it was ripping off Biff from the Back to the Future series).

From there, Partitio seeks to do away with the devil that is ‘poverty’ and seeks out a means to make money but also give back to the community at large. He does so by buying the rights to the steam engine. But not before securing himself a grand sum of 80 billion leaves!

And instead of running away with the money, makes good on his promise to make the world a better place.

While there are some forums that declare Partitio as a capitalist in the truest sense (where human greed does not enter the equation and people know how to share the wealth), I thought many of his ideas somewhat left-leaning. True, he is no communist but Partitio is a person who understands the plight of the common-man and knows how to utilise the talents of those around him to the greatest benefit. More than that, though, he is filled with empathy for those around him and isn’t shy to splash his own money around to improve the lives of those around them by 1. giving them a living wage and 2. not push people down in order to get ahead.

Plus, when his theme starts playing and the saxophone kicks in…you know you’ve got a winner on your hands.

I also really liked Agnea’s Song of Hope theme. But I’m also a sucker for any fiddle or string instrument. Which is also why I’m in love with Throne’s and Osvald’s themes. And that is something else I wanted to praise about Octopath Traveler II. The music! My goodness, the music!

Both Octopath Traveler games are scored by Yasunori Nishiki and he is a genius when it comes to composing such great music. There is something so magical about all the tracks in Octopath Traveler II that I loved.

And that’s saying a lot because I very much enjoyed the tracks of the game. Heck, I even bought the CD for the first game and had my mother play it while we drove back up from Melbourne.

The music also proved great at selling the emotion of the song and kept the story aloft, proving to be very poignant at several points. It always kept me engaged during the boss battles. Such a shame it was overlooked at The Game Awards in 2023. I’m sure Flute Guy would have kicked it out of the park if Octopath Traveler II had been nominated for Game of the Year. He certainly was living his best life when Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was nominated and was grooving out to Tears of the Kingdom.

But back to the story of Octopath Travler II. Like the first game, the stories of the Travelers are connected to a central antagonist. But whereas Galdera was a hidden boss hidden behind several side quests, after finishing off each of the Traveler’s stories and the Crossed Paths storylines, the Travelers come together and ACTUALLY interact with each other.

When the world plunges into darkness, the Travelers soon piece together that the Moonshade Order was behind it all. Together, they set about re-igniting the flames scattered around the world before confronting the big bad: Vide after Oboro sacrifices himself to the God.

And like many games of the past decade, Octopath Traveler II is a game that explores themes of despair and hope through the lens of nihilism. In fact, I was reminded very much of Danganronpa. True, we didn’t have a crazy antagonist obsessed with despair, but we did encounter individuals who saw a cruel unforgiving world and gave into the darkness (or Shadow) within their hearts to quell the suffering.

It’s a sentiment I can understand. Humans are cruel. Wars are started for petty reasons, be they for resources or simple pride.

Worse, we turn a blind eye to certain inconvenient truths. Especially if they would only serve to make us feel bad.

Sometimes it’s easy to think: what would life be like if humans were all wiped out from existence?

Our Travelers, though, are made of sterner stuff. Despite witnessing atrocities, they continue to fight for the dawn. In their hearts lay a glimmer of light – of hope – for a better world. And in a video game, their actions do bring on positive change.

Together, they drive back Vide and look to the future. Thus bringing a happy end to it all.

But while the overarching story might feel quite simplistic, the themes explored in Octopath Traveler II, I felt were especially poignant. In each Traveler’s story, we got to see elements of our current world – be it corrupt bureaucracy, the inherent greediness in humans or their lack of care for the natural world. Each time, though, the Travelers managed to triumph over their foes and bring new understanding.

It’s a story I can get behind. And it’s probably why I fell in love with Partitio and Agnea’s story (but also, who wouldn’t want to fight a steam train?)

Gameplay-wise, Octopath Traveler II doesn’t stray too far from the first game. It does, however, have a few tweaks that make the game fun and exciting such as Latent Powers and character abilities. For example, Throne is able to increase the strength of all characters at the start of battle when it’s night-time. Hikari, on the other hand, has access to learned skills which can be gained by challenging NPCs scattered around the world.

This brings a whole host of different ways to play the game and to optimise the party. Even as weigh in on when to use brave points to unleash on our foes and break past their shields or to hoard them for a devastating attack later on.

Combined in this way, Octopath Traveler II is a marvel of a game. True, there were moments where I felt the story was a little bogged down, but I certainly enjoyed my time with it. Better yet, it never felt like it was a grind. The 90+ hours I sunk into it flew by without me even realising it as my characters levelled up and grew stronger with each passing hour. Beyond these factors, it also added elements of fruitiness between NPCs but it never tried to shove it in the player’s face.

Still, in my head-canon, Dolcinaea and Veronica are a couple. As are Temenos and Crick (before his untimely demise – but he was giving off mass death vibes in Chapter 3. Just saying), Pala and Mikka, and possibly Castti and Malaya (although Malaya, too, is dead).

Plus, I loved the dynamics between all the Travelers with Castti being the mum of the group, Osvald the dad, with the others being chaotic siblings.

Artisaint? Arti-Hell no!

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

On my quest to find a possible romance partner, I’ve met a range of different people. Some have been nice. Most are far too nervous. And then there are a few who fail to pass muster. While I usually like to get to know someone before meeting them face-to-face, I’m not too opposed to go on a blind date once in a while if it’s for coffee in the middle of the day and at a public place. So, when my grandmother’s friend, who runs a dating agency, told me about a man she thought it would be good for me to meet, I said ‘Sure, why not?’ After all, the whole dating experiment is meant to be about testing compatibility and seeing if we could be together in a romantic sense.

Long Black – the codename for this particular individual – didn’t really chat to me much via text message but was keen to have a coffee. In the end, he suggested the Artisaint cafe at Burwood. I readily agreed. It was, after all, a nice in-between location filled with a ton of people.

Unfortunately, I was late to the date. Due to a few personal circumstances, I had to take my grandmother to the bank in order to reactivate her debit card and set a pin. Then there were the groceries to purchase as well as a few household chores that needed to be done. By the time I left my place, I knew I would be late and summarily texted Long Black the situation. He seemed understanding about the fact.

Open communication. One of the first tenets to the establishment of a long-term relationship.

Trying to be the good Samaritan that he thought he was, Long Black did ask me if he ought to order anything for me and was kind enough to send through a copy of the menu. As I was driving, I couldn’t respond to him but by the time I parked, I informed him I didn’t drink coffee and it wouldn’t be a problem for me to order when I got to the cafe.

I arrived at Artisaint twenty minutes after the assigned time – something which bugged me because I dislike being late at the best of times – said ‘hello’ to Long Black and quickly perused the menu. In no time, I’d ordered an ice chocolate and a spaghetti bolognese as I’d not had the time to enjoy lunch. As I ate, Long Black peppered me with questions about my interests and life. He zeroed in on murder mysteries, after I mentioned studying criminology at university, and began asking about good shows.

There were a few other questions like my job, my family make-up and a few of my hobbies. Long Black was especially quick to say ‘me too’ if he agreed with anything I said. While these were all good and fine, considering we didn’t manage to go over shared interests during our very short-lived text conversation, it did feel like I was being interviewed.

But, dear readers, let me first paint a picture of our Mr Long Black.

On the profile he submitted to the dating agency, he provided a photo where he was out on a cliff overlooking the ocean, advised he had studied computer science and that his hobbies included singing. The man I met was a nervous introvert. While the photo showed him in jean shorts and a nice black shirt, the man I met wore a baggy black t-shirt with ‘Tradie’ written on it in big block letters. He also had on a pair of grey sweatpants and white tennis shoes. He’d also done a poor job at shaving, with patches on the right side of his face. I later learned he’d only studied computer science to secure himself a permanent resident visa and that he was now working in a warehouse catering to eBay.

To say I was disappointed was an understatement.

In fact, by the time I finished my spaghetti bolognese, I was looking to leave. Mr Long Black simply wasn’t cutting it for me. Especially as he seemed adamant to speak in English although I’d told him (and demonstrated my ability) to speak in Mandarin. He also expressed some views that I found a bit narrow-minded, without much potential for growth.

I don’t like to speak ill of the people I meet but there was an air of desperation to him. Or maybe it came from the fact he kept sipping from his coffee cup (which already looked half empty by the time I arrived). Whatever the case, he reminded me of a high school friend of mine whose girlfriend had brutally broken up with him during their overseas trip and had lost hope of ever finding someone.

Coupled with the fact that Mr Long Black didn’t like his job but wasn’t making any steps to changing his situation, I had the feeling he was a man looking for a woman who could encourage him out of his shell and to force him to try new things. An extrovert who didn’t mind ‘fixing’ him, if you will.

This, of course, is not me.

If you’ve read my post about Stray Gods, you know Apollo didn’t much appeal to me because he was just a sad boi. I would prefer a manic pixie dream boy/ himbo golden retriever, or a power mummy who will step on me.

Okay. Well, maybe they don’t have to be those archetypes (especially if they’re an actual flesh and blood human), but I’m definitely not someone wants a problem project of a human. And after trying to ‘fix’ the one ex-friend I had, who also lived an incredibly sheltered life and has only now discovered gender fluidity at thirty because of their lack of exposure to basically everything, I don’t need or want to fall back into old habits.

Although, to be perfectly honest, I think I do have a type. Shout out to my friend Redoubt asking me about this during our Christmas/ New Year party at the end of 2023. But honestly, I think my type might be women. Their the ones who can draw you in because they’re energetic and bubbly and you don’t feel silly around when you goof up. And while their laughs can be loud, it’s also endearing?

I know! Revelation after revelation!

I was reading A Man Called Over for my work bookclub and while I’m not as good with my hands as Ove is, I’m definitely the more curmudgeonly type of individual. As I’ve told quite a few people, I’m the grump who needs a sunshine to brighten up their days. The one whose nose is booped when they’re being stubborn.

So, what I need is the Enid to my Wednesday. The Harley to my Ivy.

In any case, I didn’t stay long with Mr Long Black, feigning an excuse to leave after an hour and a bit in his stomach. Given I’d also ordered more than he did, I also paid for the bill. In this age of equality and feminism, it seemed like the decent thing to do despite his objections (Long Black was seated on the cushion-y seats inside the booth while I sat outside).

Afterwards, I took a gander around Burwood Westfield before heading home, retreating once more to the comfort of my books and video games.

So ended a not so successful date.

But who knows, maybe I might have found a spark as I’ve been travelling overseas. By now, bleachpanda and I are probably in Japan and will be making our way back home to Australia in a few short days. True, we’ll miss out on the cherry blossom season but there’s always next time!

Settle for Me

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

It’s not often I go on dates during the holiday season. The reason should be obvious: most people put a heavy emphasis on such dates. After all, these dates are mostly for family, friends and…loved ones. But when one is still getting to know another, a heavy significance can be put on the periods between Christmas and New Years. So, when I told Dikottir that the Darkfield experiences had returned to Sydney (after he’d gone to several earlier in the year: Seance and Flight), he was eager to cross another one off his list. And he didn’t want to wait until after the holiday season to do so.

Thankfully, I did have a few days off between Christmas and New Years and could join him in one such experience: Coma. Although, I had a feeling he’d only chosen Coma so he could find a place to lie down for a good thirty or so minutes.

Not realising Darkfield would only be on at night, Dikottir and I initially planned to meet up for lunch. It was only when Dikottir was perusing tickets, and only finding sessions from 6:00 PM onwards, were we able to deduce these were evening-type events. Thankfully, I was able to message Dikottir before he’d left his apartment and we rescheduled our initial 11:00 AM start to 5:00 PM (wherein a rainstorm drenched Sydney in between).

Dikottir managed to spot me at Kinokuniya despite the fact I’d cut my hair short because of my iconic red jacket – the one I got during my trip to Egypt and Turkey back in 2023. As I waited for him, I’d perused the shelves of the bookshop before picking up one of the latest volumes of Monstress to while away the time. Once the initial greetings were done and dusted, Dikottir and I strolled down to Pitt Street Mall where he did some shoe shopping at the local Footlocker (and to use up his gift cards) by getting a new pair of black Asic joggers.

And while I had wanted to get a few new pairs of shoes (I ended up going to the Birkenhead Point shopping outlet), there wasn’t any styles I liked.

From Footlocker, we wandered down to the Lego Store. We had a brief exchange about Agatha Christie and the twists she incorporated in many of her mysteries, even as I ogled the Orient Express Lego set. And perfect for any person with an obsession for trains.

Not that I have one, mind you. Instead, I fell in love with the NASA Space Shuttle. Although, of course, the Lego Store in the city didn’t have it in stock at the time (I’d pick it up later in January at another store). Our visit to the Lego store went a little long and before we knew it, we were legging it over to Barangaroo. Of course, Dikottir deferred to my superior sense of direction and we arrived there without too much hassle.

But what to say about Coma?

Coma had us clamber into bunk beds inside a shipping container. What objects we did have, we put at the foot of the bed. There was a white pill one could ingest to heighten the experience. And there was a set of headphones (which had the volume on way too loud for my delicate sensitivities).

Once everyone had settled and either taken the while placebo pill (or not), the lights dimmed until all one could see was inky blackness and we were lulled by the audio descriptions we could hear.

While the experience wasn’t terrible, I suppose some of the illusion of being in a coma was shattered by the fact I could still move around if I so chose. And this was heightened by my state of discomfort of how I’d arranged my belongings at the foot of my bed (and that I was forced to sleep directly on my back).

For the most part, though, Coma wasn’t too bad as it narrated a few events and also primed the brain for several scents that were funnelled through a nearby vent on the right side of each bunk. My only complaint would be the loud buzzing at the end, which proved to be far too loud and irritating.

I have sensitive ears. I jump at loud noises. It is never good to have loud annoying buzzing near me.

After our Darkfield experience, we strolled back towards Barangaroo and the food options found therein. In the end, we settled for Ume burger and chatted jovially about the state of the world and the partisan nature of Australian politics.

Why does it always feel like our political parties are at each other’s throats? Why are they so unwilling to make concessions for the betterment of the people? Honestly, I feel as if most of the major parties treat each other like exes who really enjoy having hate sex because it’s the only way they get off with each other.

There just doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

In any case, after the date with Dikottir, I returned home and began to ponder if after three dates I could see a future with him. But while I didn’t have butterflies fluttering around in my stomach at the thought of him, Dikottir was also inoffensive. We shared quite a few similarities. And if we were marrying not for love, I didn’t feel like there would be anything wrong with me choosing him as a life partner. The two of us would probably just end up doing our own things and then come together only when needed.

Plus, he had a decent job, seemed to have a good relationship with his parents, and he had a delightful dog that he liked to share pictures of. What wasn’t there to like?

And yet, this was not the romance I’d been sold in the stories and movies over the years. Quite literally, there was no ‘spark.’ No Anne Hathaway’s lifting of the foot a la The Princess Diaries. Although, to be fair, we haven’t even reached the stage of holding hands.

But the real question: do I want to hold hands with Dikottir?

Is this what non-ace/aro people feel compelled to do?

I mean, I did wonder what it might be like if he were to hold my hand but my brain couldn’t quite fathom what would happen afterwards. Would he then hold me in his arms and I’d ‘drown’ into his chocolate brown orbs?

Yes, I know I’m being facetious now but every time I ask someone what it’s like to fall for someone, I don’t get anything definitive. Just ‘oh, you’ll know it when you feel it.’

In any case, I’ve left the door open for future dates with Dikottir. He seems to be the strongest candidate so far. And I suppose I could so far worse. Now, if only I could get any sort of warm fuzzy feelings to start in some way or another because neither of us deserve to just ‘settle’ even if it would be a practical proposal.

Now, if only I could enter a 1920s black and white dance number with Santino Fontana.

A Lesson in Radio Waves

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

I first played Night School Studio’s Oxenfree after hearing good things about the title. Many of the reviews I read spoke of the excellent writing and praised how the dialogue easily flowed between characters in an almost realistic manner. Years later, I played Afterparty, which was another game from the studio. Set in Hell, the two protagonists would challenge Satan in a drinking contest to earn the privilege of returning to the World of the Living. It was an interesting conceit and I was eager to see what Night School Studio would make next.

Imagine my surprise when they were then acquired by Netflix to make exclusive games for the streaming giant!

Thankfully, though, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals was released on multiple platforms and could be purchased on Steam. But while it is true I do have a Netflix subscription and could have played the game on the platform, it’s been a pain to figure out how to access their library of games as they are not readily available on the Desktop app version. In fact, it’s why I’ve yet to play the sequel to Valiant Hearts. Given how laden down with games I’ve been, though, it’s been a right struggle.

Anyways, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals acts as a sequel to the original game. Instead of following Alex and her friends around King Edward though, the main protagonist this time round is a woman called Riley. Five years after the events of the first game, Riley has returned to her hometown of Camena Coast. Although she is here to purportedly help in the study of radio anomalies around the town, depending on one’s choice of dialogue options you soon learn she has a fraught relationship with her ill father. Later, if you so choose, you can reveal to Jacob, Riley’s companion throughout the game, that she’s pregnant. Possibly another factor for why she came back to her hometown.

As you explore Camena Coast, Riley and Jacob soon stumble upon a strange phenomenon. When they see an interdimensional portal open up in the sky above King Edward Island, they are also gifted a vision of three teenagers (Olivia, Charlie and Violet) trying to communicate with the dead. Riley and Jacob, fearing what the portal might bring, set about triangulating radio signals from multiple transmitters to close it for good.

Over the course of the night, Riley and Jacob experience strange supernatural events, confront the posse of teenagers dabbling with powers they know not, and grapple with the return of World War II era ghosts. But what came as a real surprise for me was the reveal that Alex, the protagonist of the first game, was also reaching through the void in order to break herself and her friends out of the time loop they found themselves in five years ago.

It all culminates in one last confrontation at King Edward Island where one person must sacrifice themselves to close the interdimensional rift for good. In my playthrough, that choice was easy. I picked Olivia.

One might wonder why I would pick a young teenager over an expectant mother or Jacob but since the death of her parents, Olivia hasn’t had much to live for. But by choosing to stay behind, she is able to be a version of the parents she lost, which was her entire goal from the very beginning.

Oxenfree II doesn’t have much in way of complicated gameplay. It essentially has the player click, or use the directional keys, to move Riley around a static screen. While there are the occasional objects Riley can interact with, it’s actually the dialogue that serves as the basis for the game (and the tuning of a radio). Whether that was fleshing out the lore behind the island and its cult, or the characters.

What I liked most were the visions where Riley was visited by her future son, Rex. Through these interactions, we were able to see the parallels between their relationship and the one Riley shared with her father. And I, always keen to know more about the people around me, or the fictional characters I play around with, can fill in the gaps and feed my own headcanon for how things shake out.

There are only a few things though that I wish could have been answered such as the identity of Rex’s father and if Michael, who I brought back in the first game, would be considered a canon event at all.

But while I liked the story for what it was, I felt like the decisions I had to make didn’t make much impact to the direction the story could have taken barring a few side conversations with people over the radio. This meant that no matter what I chose, the ending would always be predetermined with a few select differences based on the person I chose to close the rift.

Given this was the last game I played in 2023, I was hoping for something with a bit more oomph. Unfortunately, Oxenfree II was a slowburn fizzle. The mystery too, with the floating bodies and distorted voices, added a bit of variety, did keep me invested in the story but didn’t give me any unsettling vibes like games such as the Little Nightmares series or Limbo. Then again this may have been because of my already high expectations for the story, which was let down by the fairly rote story I was given.

On a completely unrelated note, by the time this post goes up, I should be overseas with bleachpanda. The two of us are probably somewhere in South Korea, fumbling our way through the language to visit iconic sites around the country. So, if you see two Asian-Australians either lounging in a cafe or struggling to have ourselves understood, come and say ‘hi.’ I know bleachpanda will probably wonder how I might have written a whole blog post while she wasn’t looking but as I’ve told them countless times, I have these scheduled and the actual moment I’ve written these posts is sometime in the not too distant past.

Of course, given I’ve gone overseas, that does mean there WILL be travel posts coming to the blog soon!

While bleachpanda has made it VERY clear they don’t like my idea of ugly candid photos, I’ll strive to take some nonetheless. My humour, as always, is stuck somewhere between that of a 6-year-old and dark dry wit.

Doubtless, I won’t be able to UPLOAD any of the photos of bleachpanda to my blog but I’ll most assuredly be using them to torment my erstwhile travelling companion as we traipse around Asia.

Heal the World

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

Despite being nominated for several categories at the 2023 The Game Awards, Spider-Man 2 did not manage to win any of the prestigious trophies. A fact that has been both lambasted and poked fun of on the internet. But when you consider the sheer quantity, as well as the quality, of games that came out, the fact Spider-Man 2 was even nominated is proof of its greatness. Especially when it was going up against heavy-weights Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Final Fantasy XVI, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros: Wonder.

2023, it should be noted, was a game of big releases.

Following on from several strategy role-playing games I was stuck playing, it was only in the latter half of the year I was able to play catch-up on many of the triple-A titles. Even now, though, I have yet to tackle Final Fantasy XVI, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2.

To be fair, I’ve bought all the titles. They are, unfortunately, just sitting around waiting for me to devote the necessary time to make the adventure worthwhile.

Once I do, of course, be sure to see posts pop up throughout the year. Even as I try to balance work, my writing hobbies, the books I read, shows I watch (at time of writing, I’ve gotten into Blue Eye Samurai), and whatever travel I also have planned. In fact, I should hopefully be publishing the sequel to Wild Child soon. After pounding out the chapters during a period where everything has gone back to normal, taking the time out to write a full-length novel is very time-consuming. Not to mention the editing I’m doing (which would probably be better if I had an actual editor and at least one beta reader) to polish up a few things.

In any case, the story of my journey with Spider-Man 2 began not when I popped the disc into my PlayStation 5. Nay, the story begins with the day I purchased the game at a store in the heart of Sydney CBD. I was catching up with a high school friend and had just seen a Facebook post about an exhibit in Barangaroo. After dinner, off we trotted – after much convincing on my part that a walk down to Barangaroo would be for the best – to take in the flipped truck suspended by spider webs and New York policemen milling about telling everyone within earshot that, “There was nothing to see here.” The trip, capped off with a photo of the truck, was made memorable when I muttered under my breath how the hired actors were pretending to be NPCs. Only, of course, to be remonstrated by my friend for saying such a thing.

And honestly, it it is true that I shouldn’t be calling the people I see only in passing as NPCs. After all, in their own mind, they’re the main character and I’m the NPC lurking in the background of their story. Which only serves to drive home the disconnection we have with the people around us or who might share the daily commute with us.

Still, what a thing to say to dismiss another person.

I’m reminded of a scene in the book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which my workplace bookclub read, where Sam called his best friend, Max, an NPC right to his face. I know Max didn’t take it to heart but what a cruel and heartless thing to say to someone who has supported you throughout your game developing journey and is then ruthlessly gunned down on the pretense he was you by angry gamers.

Anyways, back to Spider-Man 2. The game follows on from Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Ten months on from the last game, we see Peter Parker and Miles Morales working together to keep New York safe. And though the Avengers seem to exist in the world – what with Avenger Tower jutting up above the New York skyline – we never see these other superheroes once during the struggles Peter and Miles face. Nor do we see cameos from the likes of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist or Luke Cage.

Which is such a shame.

But it also highlights the problem of having so many comic-book superheroes call New York home.

Spider-Man 2 starts with Peter taking on a job as a physics teacher at Brooklyn Visions, the school Miles attends. As he’s teaching them about surface tension, Sandman attacks. Torn between his responsibilities as civilian Peter and that of Spider-Man, Peter joins up with Miles to take down Flint Marko in an epic showdown that saves the city. Unfortunately, due to dereliction of duty as a teacher, Peter is fired. A side-effect of being a superhero who keeps his identity hidden (although given how often his friends have since said his name during the game, I’m surprised it’s still a secret).

From there, the game introduces us to Kraven, a man who seeks his death in glorious combat with a mighty opponent. As such, he captures Mister Negative and Scorpion while the two were being transported from the Raft. He even administers a high dose of Lizard serum into Dr Curt Connors to face up against a worthwhile opponent.

It is only when Peter acquires the symbiote that excitement enters Kraven’s eyes. In the latter chapters, he fights against Peter and demands that our erstwhile hero stop holding back even showing off a battered Miles. Before Peter can kill him, Miles intervenes and Peter is then freed from the symbiote’s control.

Of course, Spider-Man 2 is not content to have Kraven as the big bad for this game. Oh no.

As many know, once you’ve introduced the symbiote, you’ve also introduced Venom. But instead of Eddie Brock taking on the mantle of our favourite anti-hero, it is instead Harry Osborn.

Though Harry was only mentioned briefly in the first game, in Spider-Man 2, Harry returns from a long sabbatical in Europe and supposedly cured from his terminal illness. Harry is introduced early, hiring Peter to work at his environmental technology startup called the Emily-May foundation where the pair can pursue their childhood dream of “healing the world.” Unfortunately, during the events of Spider-Man 2, with Peter taking on the symbiote, Harry’s health – both physical and mental – deteriorates. Desperate to return to a semblance of normality, Harry reclaims the symbiote and is then transformed into the Venom we all know and love.

He is later stopped by the combined efforts of Miles, Peter and MJ. The final battle leaves Harry comatose and our heroes shattered once again by the sacrifices they had to make in order to save the city they call home.

What I liked most about Spider-Man 2, however, as a criminology major in university, was its focus on rehabilitation. Many of the supervillains that Spider-Man fans have come to know and love have been reformed in some way or another. Be that Tombstone to Mysterio. Many of these villains have chosen to turn over a new leaf and assimilate back into society. The most tragic and most human is the story of Sandman. Threatened by Kraven’s hunters, fearing for his daughter and not being heard by those in power, he resorts to the only thing he knows in order to garner attention: attacking the city.

It is a tale as old as time.

And helps support the tenets of strain theory in crime sociology.

Of course, there are a myriad reasons why people turn to crime.

But these glimpses are so important to understand the complexities of why someone might resort to doing something illegal. And it’s a far better exploration of redemption than what Spider-Man: No Way Home attempted. As I’ve stated before, change takes time. While No Way Home plucked our villains during their final showdown with the various Spider-Man across the multiverse, Spider-Man 2 shows the results of Mysterio and Sandman having served their time and seeking to mend their ways.

This all culminates in the interactions with Mister Negative and Miles Morales. And while Miles cannot bring himself to forgive what Mister Negative did, he is able to move past the anger.

The other message in Spider-Man 2, of course, is that some burdens cannot be taken on alone. The tagline for the game is: ‘Be Greater. Together.’ Something I wish more people would take to heart. When a community comes together, there is so much more that can be done. Unfortunately, the Western world prefers to champion individualistic effort over those of a collective.

Capitalism seems to forget that if you don’t have your workers or people who can afford to purchase your goods, then what’s the whole point? And if you’re curious where this odd segue came from, I’m currently playing through Octopath Traveler 2 and Partitio’s story is very much of a big-hearted merchant who looks out for his town. His dream, funnily enough, is to destroy the devil known as poverty. Something our modern world still has not been able to solve (but could. If there was any profit to it. But who are we kidding? There isn’t.)

From a combat perspective, Spider-Man 2 changes things up a little by introducing a parry mechanism as well as a few other new abilities for the Spider-Men to enjoy. While this kept the game lively, it annoyed me that I needed a full Focus bar in order to heal. This was especially difficult in the latter boss battles against Scream and Venom. I’m not sure if the reason why I struggled through them was because I hadn’t topped up my Focus bars prior to the mission or if it was simply me not gelling with Peter’s abilities.

What I do know was that I hated how the attack you couldn’t dodge, but had to parry, was highlighted in red and that the unblockable attack was blue. Especially when the game had trained you early on with managing a perfect dodge when the spider sense was red. It also didn’t help that in the battles with Scream and Venom, these indicators didn’t last for very long and I couldn’t cancel an animation if I was already mid-dodge to parry an attack.

At least the checkpointing was generous!

As for other gameplay moments, I had to say the swinging was smooth as butter and the web wings added some great diversity to travel. Especially with the wind tunnels all around the city to help one get from Point A to Point B.

And because of these quality-of-life improvements, I didn’t feel like the new map, which now included Queens and Brooklyn, was that much larger than the original Spider-Man game or as time-consuming to get through like a map in the open-world Assassin’s Creed titles.

So, while Spider-Man 2 didn’t win at The Game Awards, it certainly won my heart as the second last game I played in the year 2023. And I’m certainly excited to see what Insomniac cooks up next, despite the hack. The studio is great at nailing story, gameplay and world while serving up side-dishes of heart. Best of all, it didn’t have me chasing after pigeons!

In a year teeming with big titles, Spider-Man 2 was everything I wanted in an open-world game without overstaying its welcome.

Thank you Insomniac and here’s hoping Spider-Man 3 brings on the Green Goblin in all his glory! Oh, and Silk. I’m curious to how they’ll insert that comic storyline into the game.

Isu Origins

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

The Assassin’s Creed games began with a simple story about erstwhile bartender Desmond Miles reliving the memories of his ancestor: Altair while being held by a sinister organisation known as Abstergo. Over the years, however, the franchise has grown, spawning spin-offs and trying new things by adding different features to spruce up the gameplay. Unfortunately, as the series has continued Assassin’s Creed has become far too convoluted for its own good. Heck, even Desmond was killed off before being replaced by Layla Hassasn. She too, however, was set aside at the end of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (a game, I should note, which took me about 150 hours to complete).

Enter Basim: an assassin from the ninth century, who also served a pivotal role in the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed title and introduced protagonist Eivor to the Hidden Ones. Basim, of course, is also the Isu Loki. The Isu, for those unfamiliar with the games, are an ancient and highly advanced species of humanoid beings that have taken on mythological connotations. They were the ones who created the Pieces of Eden, and were responsible for the creation of the humans. A cataclysmic event before written history wiped out many of them although some have survived. Including, of course, Loki after his consciousness was reborn.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is a game that harks back to the Assassin’s Creed games of old. Instead of the open world role-playing games from the last three titles in the series, they have returned to a much more contained world. Mirage, it should be noted, is set before Valhalla. When we first meet the Isu Loki, he is naught but a street thief with no knowledge of his Isu heritage.

The Basim we meet is a man with a good heart and a strong sense of justice. Life on the streets of Baghdad is not easy. Doing odd jobs for the Hidden Ones has helped him feel like he’s contributing to his community but it’s not enough. Basim, we soon learn, wishes to join them. Something his lifelong friend, Nehal, disagrees with.

Still, Basim is a stumble young man. Sensing an opportunity to impress the Hidden Ones, he decides to break into the Winter Palace and steal whatever treasures the Hidden Ones have their eye on. Things go from bad to worse when after witnessing a meeting between members of The Order of the Ancients and the Caliph, he stumbles upon an ancient artefact. Upon activating it, he is discovered by the Caliph and kills the man in self-defence.

After a fraught escape, Basim is left with nowhere to turn to. Roshan takes him back to Alamut and serves as his assassin mentor.

So ends the action-packed prologue of Mirage.

It isn’t long before Basim is sent back to Baghad following a fellow assassin’s discovery and failure to track down the members of the Order of the Ancients that hold the city in their vice-like grip. And just like the earlier games, Basim must slowly track down clues around the city to deduce who each Order member is before assassinating them.

While there isn’t much variety in the type of missions, I still enjoyed my time exploring Baghdad and learning a variety of facts about the culture. After reading about the Silk Roads and how pivotal the Middle East was back in those days as a hub for trade. So much of the history during the early Middle Ages I used to know has been so centralised in Western Europe, it is refreshing to see how interconnected the world was outside of it. Yes, Western Europe might have seen economic, intellectual and cultural decline but this was not so for so many other countries and budding empires.

Honestly, the best part of the Assassin’s Creed games has been the opportunity to learn about history through a medium that is fun and engaging. I might not retain everything I’ve learned but for those similarly minded, it can spark curiosity about the world around them.

And given how little the Western world knows about Muslims and their history (as well as the trouble between Israel and Palestine), learning about these people is a great tool to understanding their perspective and to garner sympathy.

The Middle East has such a rich history that the Western world has ignored or taken advantage of. Were it not for how Western Europeans have exploited their land, and gone to war with them during the Crusades, the possibilities of what might have been achieved are endless.

Anyways, after identifying the Head of the Order, Basim confronts his mentor, Roshan, regarding who he is and of the secrets lying underneath Alamut. It later turns out, the Hidden Ones were guarding a ruin from the time of Those Who Came Before. It later turns out, the ruin was the prison where Loki was held. This is further emphasised by the nightmares our protagonist experienced throughout the game of a terrifying djinni.

Mirage ends with Basim embracing his identity as Loki despite Roshan’s attempts to get him to leave the past behind, thus providing some much needed backstory to the antagonist Eivor faced in Valhalla. Where Ubisoft goes next with this storyline is anyone’s guess given Loki’s immediate mission to find those who had wronged him in his past. But there is little doubt he would be an asset for the current iterations of the Assassins as they struggle against the modern-day version of The Order.

From a gameplay perspective, I liked how Mirage moved away from using R1 and R2 as the attack buttons and moving it back to square on my PlayStation controller. There is also a renewed focus back to stealth with Basim having many tools at his disposal to dispatch unsuspecting guards. Yes, they might be a little dimwitted as they lose their fellow guards to the wind but there’s something fun about taking them down. What I didn’t like, however, was the addition of a stamina bar and unblockable attacks which were denoted by enemies flashing red (this was particularly hard if one had just used eagle sense beforehand).

When did these games suddenly become like Dark Souls? Why is there a need for a stamina bar? I know, Ubisoft, that you don’t want players to wail on guards like they did in the open-world games but there are so many other options at your disposal than incorporating a stamina bar!

That aside, I did notice Basim’s freerunning parkour wasn’t as tight as I would like. There were several occasions where my erstwhile assassin would veer off to clamber up another object rather than the one I’d directed him to. Then, of course, there was his stubborn insistence to DIVE into the water rather than leap onto land even though the jump would barely be an inconvenience.

I was also irritated, for a few missions, with how quickly enemy guards could detect Basim. Perhaps this was my own inability to track down nearby enemies but let me just blame the game, okay?

These gripes aside, Mirage still remained an enjoyable game. Especially because it was a much smaller open world than the giants visited upon by Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla. There was no swapping out of weapons or equipment based upon stats. Basim was equipped with sword, dagger and hidden blade only. The simplified skill tree and the focus on just one city was a breathe of fresh air considering the open-world exhaustion I’d faced although Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe does promise a return to it. Still, the concept behind it – that of the witch trails in the Holy Roman Empire – does tickle my fancy.

And while Mirage doesn’t break any new ground, I very much enjoyed the setting and the return to a simpler time when it came to gameplay. If there is a return to a bigger open-world, though, we’ll have to see if the story will be enough to pull me through as I’ve faced significant fatigue of overly long games that take me a month or two just to get through and add little to the world because they thought including frivolous points of interest was the best way to make the world interesting.

Ice to Meet You

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After changing my preferences to women, it’s been much harder to meet new people. Unlike men, women are more secure about who they are. Or they just don’t use dating apps as religiously. In any case, my profile didn’t receive much in the ways of ‘likes’ and even when the two of us mutually decided to ‘match’ and chat, inevitably, they would stop responding after one or two exchanges. And given how ambivalent I am to the whole dating scene, when the conversations die off, I’m not all that ruffled. Instead, I just move on and try my luck elsewhere or sink a few more hours into a game.

In fact, in most conversations, I’m more reactive rather than proactive in my questioning. It’s hard for me to garner curiosity for someone I don’t really know. Especially because I’ve already learned from a young age not to dump on others about my niche interests. Or asking anything too nosy. Most of the time, these things come out in their own time. I’m a great listener, after all, and I tend to file away any and all scraps thrown my way.

Honestly, it’s just easier for everyone involved for me to sit back and observe the person opposite me as they rant and rave about what they like. But also, I just find it very hard to interrupt others.

Despite all this, I managed to have a meet-up with Eivor! That’s their codename because in one of their pictures they were dressed as a viking. Unlike all my other dates, this time I asked them for a meet-up (something I honestly hate doing), but considering she was the one who suggested adding each other first on Facebook Messenger (so she could send me pictures of her pets), I bucked up the courage to arrange a face-to-face meeting. After all, I’m an independent 31-year-old woman who don’t need no man!

[As an aside to all this, I’m still occasionally chatting with Dikottir. So, maybe I do still WANT a man? Who knows.]

And honestly, it was better that I took the initiative. Elsewise I might even now be waiting for someone to ask me out. Or to have someone reach out to me to invite me to an event.

It’s why I’ve bitten the bullet so many times in organising catch-ups with my work friends. For if not me, then who?

While books and video games are very important to me (and make any description of my weekends sound very boring – at least to me), but there’s something about maintaining my social connections that also resonates with me.I can’t live in my head forever. And being chronically online would also be terrible for my mental health. I mean, what if I fell in with the wrong crowd that enabled all my worst traits? Or who I could compare my self to and think: yes, I’m far more normal than they are and so my mental health isn’t flagging despite the fact I had a psychotic breakdown leading to hospitalisation for a week (if that’s sounding very specific, it’s because it is and that’s a whole other story to tell).

Anyways, long story short, Eivor and I had chatted for a while. I learned she was into sports and thought going on an ice-skating trip would be a bit different to all my usual first-dates at cafes. I arrived to the rink early. Unfortunately, Eivor was running a little late as she had chosen to save a little on money by doing an Uber Pool. But once she did arrive (and after I’d done a few rounds on the rink in the skates the Ice Zoo provided – which were more hockey skates than the blue skates usually handed out), we chatted as we circled the rink.

Mostly, it ended up as Eivor asking me more questions of me than I her. But given the amount of children celebrating their birthdays there, and the music, it wasn’t exactly the most conducive environment for a chat.

I learned she had a brother and was homeschooled. That she was often told she was quite ‘normal’ for not going through the usual curriculum when it came to learning but she was thankful her mother allowed to explore the subjects they were interested in. Including getting involved in a robotics competition run by Macquarie University. Something that sounded so cool to me and I hate myself for not asking more about it.

Unfortunately, being homeschooled meant she didn’t have an ATAR to allow her easy access into a degree. Eivor told me she had to sit for the SAT and when she was finally admitted into tertiary education, the one major difficulty she faced were standardised exams.

And honestly, so true! Standardised tests are the worst. They don’t even test anything practical about a subject – merely how well you might have crammed the information into your head the night before. It’s a complete and utter joke and doesn’t demonstrate one’s actual knowledge.

Once our ice-skating session was over (in which I embarrassed myself by trying to do my usual T-stop on the skates but being encumbered by a weighted penguin, resulting in me overbalancing and falling on the ice), we had a simple affair of chicken nuggets and chips at the cafe located at the rink. Although I did offer Eivor a ride to another suburb or a restaurant close by, she refused.

Which, honestly, is fair.

We were strangers and for all she knew, I COULD have been a serial killer (spoilers: I’m not. In fact, I’m always in fear of my own life when I go out on dates. Beyond that, she was taller than me and could probably deadlift me if she so chose.). It doesn’t help that so many of my friends have written into their wills that if they were to vanish under mysterious circumstances, I’d be to blame.

I should work on stamping out such baseless rumours. Permanently.

It wasn’t the best food to have. And it didn’t fill me up at all considering this was supposed to be lunch. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to pressure Eivor into anything and had let her take the lead. From there, we investigated the nearby antiques store. RIGHT as it began to sprinkle down heavy drops of RAIN!

Given I lived in one of the neighbouring suburbs, my mind instantly turned to the LAUNDRY I had painstakingly washed and hung out to dry (thankfully, it was still quite a warm day and when I got back home to check, they weren’t as wet as I thought despite the sudden sun shower).

Antique stores, it should be known, aren’t places I normally frequent. Yes, I visited Dirty Janes in Bowral during the light show back in June this year but old pieces of furniture isn’t something terribly enticing to someone like me. Probably because they aren’t exactly the ancient artefacts I would hope to find in an archaeological dig. The most interesting things I DID see were taxidermy animals and a few Chinese vases. Unfortunately, there were not enough weapons to catch my eye at the exhibit. Now, Dirty Janes had a veritable display of knives to peruse. As well as a few cases filled with butterflies that would have looked delightful.

And so ended my date with Eivor.

Throughout it all, there wasn’t much of a spark between us. Like many of the men, I wasn’t filled with any kind of lustful thoughts or a desire to know as much as I could about her. In fact, I think what I felt was a combination of anxiety (and wishing to impress) as well as mild disappointment.

I had been hoping to be wowed but Eivor was like any person I might walk by on my daily commute to the office. Any curiosity I had remained entirely detached like she was another face in a crowd of thousands.

Similarly, I didn’t feel like she was all that taken away by who I was. Some of that might be my below average self-worth, esteem and confidence talking but Eivor and I haven’t chatted much since the encounter out on the ice. In fact the conversation have all but dried up. So, I suppose it’s back to the drawing board for me.

It doesn’t help that I find it immensely boring to talk about myself. After all, there’s nothing truly exciting about my life (something I was warned not to say to strangers during a one-year-old’s birthday party. Of course, when you don’t know ANYONE at the birthday party and no-one extends a hand to chat with you – usually that’s me actually – it’s a difficult endeavour). But whenever I try to talk about a few of my passion projects, the conversation always seems to jump to another topic.

And given I’m more a Wednesday Addams wallflower than an Enid SInclair extrovert, it’ll probably keep on being the same old story every time.

In fact, I told one of my friends that I think a possible ideal partner for me would be to have an excitable golden retriever chasing after my grouchy cat arse.

But beggars can’t be choosers in the game of love. So, I guess we’ll simply have to see where the next step takes me. Or I can just be satisfied with being single. And honestly? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Preaching to the Chorus

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About three years ago, Troy Baker pitched the idea of a video game musical called Chorus. What struck me, beyond the fact it was asking for donations as it was a crowdfunded project, were the high profile voice actors taking part, the art style, the bringing on of composer Austin Wintory and that it was being developed by an Australian developer! Years later, there was almost no word or hint of the game and I feared the worst. For a good long while, I wondered if I had just imagined the game being announced. Until, of course, Summerfall Studios announced the upcoming release of Stray Gods in August 2023! Suddenly, we had a release date and songs to enjoy after years of what had felt like absolute silence.

Yes, Chorus had changed its name but it was still the same premise I was promised: an urban fantasy Greek-mythology inspired musical where I got to make decisions on where the songs went. Needless to say, I was excited!

Despite it releasing in August, I didn’t get to play the game until much later in 2023 when I finally got a bit of a breather between all my lengthy video games sucking up most of my time (and the fact I work full-time and commit to writing my stories and watching endless TV shows to be up-to-date on whatever is popular). Well, no. That’s a lie. I’ve put a few games on the back burner like Octopath Traveler II and Like a Dragon: Ishin! (they are totally going to be played soon, I promise!)

In any case, I purchased the game while it was on sale (a measly 20% or so) and then stepped into the shoes of Grace. And almost immediately connected with her feelings of being cast adrift. Like so many people who have graduated university, and who didn’t immediately apply for graduate programs, she’s a little lost and unsure of her direction in life. Enter Calliope.

After the two share a duet together, Grace returns to the apartment she shares with longtime best friend: Freddie. As she rests, there’s a knock on the door and lo! Calliope staggers through clutching a ghastly wound. With her last breath, she passes on her eidolon (the soul? and memories of an Idol) before dying in poor traumatised Grace’s arms.

As Grace, understandably, panics, at the sudden turn of events, Hermes steps through the front door and tells Grace she needs to meet the Chorus. Within moments, Grace is taken to an upscale office room where she is greeted by Apollo, Persephone, Aphrodite and Athena. Before Grace can get a word in edgewise, these Idols (as the Gods now call themselves – although it makes me wonder if other pantheons exist in this world created by Summerfall), decide to execute Grace for the crime of maybe-possibly killing Calliope. That is until Apollo protests.

And protest he must consider later plot points. Such as him divulging the prophecy leading to Calliope’s murder!

Honestly, so much of the story could have been resolved if Apollo stopped being a sad boy and actually used some brains to more cleverly resolve Grace’s predicament. Instead, we have Grace run around the city for a week in a bid to prove her innocence and figure out the truth behind Calliope’s death.

But what a wonderful week it was as several Idols help out, from the fast-talking Pan to the scary Medusa (with a very cute monster voice from Anjali Bhimani). But who can forget, and forgive me as a I fan myself and swoon over, the dommy mummy: Persephone. The design! The voice! The attitude? Gosh, I just wanted Persephone to step all over me. And considering the height difference she had over Grace?

Just…

I’m just going to die in a corner over here now.

Anyways, diversion aside, the plot was serviceable. It wasn’t the most mindblowing story to be told but I liked how it introduced us to many of the Greek Gods and mythological creatures hiding in America, whilst weaving it in the murder mystery plot at its core. While the game threw out new leads often, I didn’t ever feel an urgency to solve the crime or fear I’d not be able to figure out the murderer. Sherlock Holmes, this is not.

Rather, no matter which scenes you may wish to complete first (and I always went back to the Underworld to chat up Persephone), I feel like the end-point is almost always the same with our villain being unmasked as the smiling cookie-giver!

From a gameplay perspective, Stray Gods doesn’t offer much. It’s pretty much a visual novel where the player selects dialogue options or the next part of the song they wish to sing. There’s no walking around or exploring the wondrous set pieces you find yourself in. Nor is there any random clicking on background objects for some light commentary or to pocket away clues to be presented at some other time.

In fact, there’s no real animation to the game either. Most of the characters are stills, changing their posture as the dialogue or songs demand. Like flipping through a comic book or going from pane to pane.

But what does make Stray Gods stand out are the songs. Yes, there are some where I felt like it faltered: Asterion and Hecate’s song (with the volume turned way too low) and some of the weaker blue options in Challenging a Queen. To me, it just wasn’t as melodic as they could be and sounded a little jarring. Still, these were glossed over by several other standout songs like The Throne and the Ritual.

Speaking of The Ritual, while I did feel for Aphrodite, I didn’t much like her selfish actions of dying and passing her trauma onto another poor soul. Like, either go to therapy and work on your issues or just die permanently and stop inflicting someone else with your trauma! Forgetting is not the path forward. And maintaining the cycle of the next Aphrodite reawakening to your traumatic memories of the Second World War whilst your son, Eros, deals with the fallout is NOT healthy.

On a side note, I liked how the melody of Adrift was used in the background of the game and was also revisited during The Trial.

As for the actual singing, I’m still impressed by the singing of so many of the voice actors. I mean, I wasn’t surprised by Troy Baker considering he was a musician before he was a voice actor. And Felicia Day…well, considering I’d stumbled upon her back in her The Guild days, knew she could sing because of the songs she released. And the fact she appeared in Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog alongside Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion.

While I did like Laura Bailey, there were moments when I felt her vocals were just a little too raw and weren’t able to hit the notes as well as could be. No shade on Laura, though. I love Laura Bailey! And she had a tough task with so many variations to sing!

Still, I did like her rapping. MORE LAURA BAILEY RAPPING PLEASE! Especially in the Challenging a Queen song.

But I do wonder what Stray Gods might have been like if we had actual Broadway actors brought in for the singing with stronger vocals and/ or melodies.

But I must say, my absolute favourite singer was Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. How could I not? She voiced Persephone! And I so wanted to romance her!

In the end, though, I foiled my chances because I was trying to play in-character by asking myself ‘What would Grace do?’ in most situations, especially when she was down in the Underworld and was especially traumatised by her best friend’s death.

So, yes. I obviously brought Freddie back and the two ended up getting together in one of the more wholesome relationships there is in the game. Because, if you ask me, Pan? He just shows up out of the blue and is all sneaky-sneaky. A girl with her head on her shoulders wouldn’t immediately fall for him, even if his intentions were good.

And Apollo? I know my friend mrsarmageddon likes a ‘I-can-fix-him-sad-boy’ but he was too set in his ways and a little too unwilling to be of any proper assistance until all his secrets had been unveiled.

As for Persephone, she’s a very angry woman and also wouldn’t have been a healthy choice considering her romance with CALLIOPE in the past. Still, I couldn’t help but want her step on me.

I don’t know what that says about me. I’m probably secretly a sub/ omega who just wants someone to take care of me.

But let’s not dwell on what this revelation could be and instead talk about how Stray Gods pushed the gaming genre to try and be more inclusive in ways no-one had thought of before. Beyond that, I loved the characters. The narrative, while simplistic, was entertaining enough to pull me through my initial playthrough of six and a bit hours. So, it’s not even all that long. Which is perfect when you’re gainfully employed and have a ton of time-consuming hobbies.

The one major downside to me was the fact it didn’t have a chapter select after the first playthrough. If it did have it, allowing me to skip ahead to say ‘Act 3’ to redo my conversation with Persephone so I could romance her, or skip to certain songs so I could try out different combinations or variations, it would have heightened the gaming experience for me. Instead, Stray Gods forced me to play through the entire game again just for the occasional tweaks I wanted to do in my playthrough.

And now, during The Game Awards 2023, there’s been an announcement for ANOTHER musical game called Harmonium. And it features sign language! So, it’s definitely something I want to keep an eye on!

YES! TO MORE VIDEO GAME MUSICALS!

But also, don’t let it become too overly saturated. During the Game Awards, I couldn’t help but notice more Souls-like battle systems, using Japan as a setting (for Western developers) and more mechs/ robots.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and admire the Queen of the Underworld a little bit more. For perfectly REASONABLE purposes.

When the River Meets the Sea

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I don’t tend to hype up books or signal boost ones I like too much but, as you, dear readers know, there is a series I’ve stumbled upon in recent years that I am most enthusiastic about. Why it isn’t a TikTok darling is a mystery to me. The cover is GORGEOUS, the plot a work of GENIUS and the characters are some of the most lovable I’ve ever set my mind’s eye on. Don’t even get me started on the world-building!

The work of fiction, of course, is none other than the Rook and the Rose trilogy by Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms. AKA M.A. Carrick – the pseudonym they chose to write under.

From the moment I cracked open the first book and stepped in the city of Nadezra, I was spellbound. Quickly, I came to love the world within those 600 or so pages. But if I have to shout out one character who resonated strongly with me, it would be Ren.

Hers is a story many may know. An orphan with no name trying to eke out a living in an unforgiving city.

While many fantasy authors these days tend to make their protagonists thieves or assassins or royalty in disguise, Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms went a different route. Yes, Ren is a thief and con artist but she isn’t a character living on the fringes of high society. Instead, she throws right into the political machinations of the gentry and find a way to put her name onto a noble family register. Along the way, she makes new allies, finds love and gets adopted into a loving family. And all through the use of her silver tongue and skill at pattern-reading.

As such, she’s a refreshing protagonist when so many are either hyper-sexualised (although she isn’t afraid to use her feminine wiles to her advantage) or turned into another stoic caricature of what people think a strong female protagonist has to be. In all honesty, it’s probably how she relies on her wit rather than brawn to win battles that won me over.

The city of Nadezra, too, is a the perfect microcosm of many issues our current world faces when it comes to the divide between ricfh and poor, white and black. True, the Vraszenians are more akin to gypsies rather than, say, African-Americans or Indigenous Australians but their struggle is similar. Nadezra, after all, is the holy city of the Vraszenians, conquered by the Liganti (a light-skinned race with many of their attitudes reflecting that of the Western European gentry although their names were very Italian-esque).

In the history of the world, it was the Tyrant King who first took control. Though he died centuries ago, the city of Nadezra, has, however, remained in the hands of the Liganti. Their control of the city remaining tight due to the influence of special medallions charged with the power of a Primordial.

While the third book in the trilogy, Labyrinth’s Heart, manages to resolve these issues by the end, I thought it poignant the authors made it clear the racism and institutionalised disadvantages the Vraszenians faced hadn’t completely vanished overnight. House Traementis, while being more open-minded to befriending Vraszenians and granting them contracts was still trying to unlearn many of the prejudices they held.

Still, the fact Ren is of mixed heritage and that she saved the city numerous times with Vraszenian, Liganti and mixed blood Nadezrans allies was an important step towards equality and making a fairer multicultural society.

It also helped this was a fictional fantasy novel where such problems can be more easily resolved. Nevertheless, I liked the inherent message within that diplomacy rather than violence is the key to navigating differences. Of course, for it to work, both parties need to approach the thorny issue of past grievances in good faith. Nothing would get done if people held onto old grudges instead of setting such things aside. That isn’t to say compensation shouldn’t be paid to those that have suffered.

I’m sure in the world of Nadezra, there is still many things that will need to be addressed but I’m also appreciate of the fact the conflict between the two races wasn’t so black and white. In fact, the extremists among the Vraszenians were also a threat Ren and her allies needed to manage.

But while racism and the impact of one’s cultural and socio-economic status play large roles in the narrative, I felt the crux of The Rook and the Rose trilogy, was the theme of family. If anything, given it’s a trilogy with three main characters it revolves around, I’d say it was a fitting theme given the Tricat numinatria represented family as well as the number three in the world’s lore.

And who would have thought this fantastic story would all come from the two authors playing a table-top role-playing game?

Certainly not me!

Which is why I would like like to see these books being boosted more on social media. Be it BookTube (thank you Reads with Rachel for showing off Mask of Mirrors) or Booktok. After all, can you imagine this wondrous and colourful world being turned into a TV adaption? Just the set dressing and costume design has me salivating given how much attention Alyc Helms has given.

Now that Shadow and Bone and its spinoff Six of Crows has been cancelled, what better faux European world to have fun in? When you also mix in the brooding Rook and the scheming Vargo, the cast of characters are set. The Rook and the Rose is one part Game of Thrones, one part Bridgerton high society (at least, I assume that’s what Bridgerton is all about. I’ve never watched it) and one part Lies of Locke Lamora/ Six of Crows. Viewers would get to see the inner workings of the nobles and how Ren manages to disrupt their very conservative views by showing off her arms without sleeves! And then, maybe in the same episode, we could see how the other side lives as Ren dons the disguise of a szorza to figure out why children are disappearing in the city.

Heck, you even have the terrifying zylzen to be your creepy CGI enemies Ren and her allies will have to do battle with!

And then in the second season, you get to enjoy a nice cruise on the river before the plot embroils us all into a secret cult!

It just makes sense!

Throw in the very liberal view when it comes to LGBTQI+ relationships and you have a WINNER!

Please, anyone, if you’re a TV producer, I’d really like to see the Rook and the Rose as a television series. Can you just IMAGINE the playground the writers could have with this world and setting? It’s CRIMINAL not to adapt it to the silver screen.

Anyways, that was my many cents take on a trilogy I stumbled upon at my local Kinokuniya and immediately fell in love with at the first sight of the cover. And while I’m sad Ren’s story has come to an end, I would like to dive back into the world Marie and Alyc have created to see what else the world has to offer.

Like Seteris!

Or whatever adventures Alsius might be having in the Realm of the Mind.

I’ll miss you, Mr Peabody.

Someone, anyone, please draw me a picture of a green spider wearing gloves. I beg of you!

L.A. Calling

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

From one red-head protagonist to another, I thought the brief lull during the holiday season (for games I was interested in anyways) would be the perfect opportunity to try out the Burning Shores DLC for Horizon: Forbidden West. After all, there was a reason why I kept the game despite finishing it after a hundred hour marathon of a month gaming last year. That reason, of course, was to ensure I knew the new story threads leading into the third game. But with the passing of Lance Reddick, it was also a chance to catch a glimpse of his last performance as Sylens – Aloy’s reluctant ally.

So, from the highs of the Star Wars universe, I plunged back down to a post-apocalyptic Earth where robot dinosaur roam and a rogue A.I. is hurtling back to destroy what remains of humanity. Good stuff!

Following on from the ending of Forbidden West, Burning Shores sees Aloy heading down to the ruins of Los Angeles after being notified by Sylens that Walter Londra, a member of Far Zenith, had headed there following his arrival on Earth. Aloy agrees to investigate and heads down the coast on the back of a Sunwing.

As she approaches the the remains of Los Angeles, Aloy is shot down by a drone tower. With the help of Seyka, a member of the Quen, they take down the machines in the area before heading to Fleet’s End: the settlement the Quen have made since floundering in Los Angeles after a typhoon.

It isn’t long before Aloy agrees to help the Quen out and find their missing people. And it certainly wasn’t very long before I was scrambling across the map of old Los Angeles to scrounge up collectibles and completing the scattered side quests and errands available on the map.

Could it have benefited with having a Tallneck to climb up? Yes, but given Aloy had flight on her side (granted soon after taking down the first drone tower), it wasn’t very long before I managed to explore most of the map and engaged with a few select new machines like the Bilegut and the Stingspawn.

From a narrative perspective, Burning Shores didn’t really add anything new to the overarching plot except another scavenger hunt across an open world for a weapon to take down Nemesis. Or, perhaps, the third game will truncate the search a little by focusing it once more in some area of the North Americas. Here’s hoping, though, the Horizon series takes our allies across the seas and try something a little more different from the remnants of the ol’ United States of America.

At the very least, though, Aloy walked away from the adventure with a new ally she was keen to work with. All throughout the DLC, Seyka stayed by Aloy’s side and proved to be an effective fighter. Was it any wonder she proved to be Aloy’s first actual love interest?

Both of them are capable warriors and hunters of machine. Both are practical problem-solvers, doing what needs to be done instead of fussing about if it’ll offend someone’s sensibilities. And both are driven.

I’m actually somewhat relieved Aloy didn’t try to push Seyka away. Although, it did take her a while to finally admit the impending threat that was Nemesis heading back towards Earth, keen to destroy the Earth. Still, Seyka had her own secrets when it came to her sister and her fears Kina had willingly joined up with Walter Londra (a fairly forgettable antagonist) who was willing to irradiate the surrounding land in order to escape back into space and be surrounded by a loving and brainwashed cadre of followers.

Combat-wise, Burning Shores added in a few new different skills to tackle on enemies. In the end, though, I found myself still relying on tried and true abilities. Given it had also been a year since I last played Forbidden West, my skills were also quite a bit rusty. So, I’m not ashamed to admit I did dumb the difficulty down just to ensure I could enjoy the story rather than struggle in a high-end area because I’d forgotten Aloy couldn’t parry attacks like Cal Kestis or that the way she normally tackled enemies was from afar with ranged attacks.

It was also a matter of relearning the status effects of the game, like drenched and frozen and shock and corrosion.

Targeting weak points also proved to be a trying affair after all the different games I’d played over the year. Especially given how the machines move and make it difficult to target the one spot that’ll do MASSIVE damage.

Or maybe I just need to ‘git gud’ as the pro gamers like to say.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Burning Shores. It was good to dive back into the Horizon universe and tackle on a map that wasn’t as large as the base game. It also helped there weren’t a ton of collectibles needed to be found and unearthed. So, my map wasn’t entirely pockmarked with ‘?’ to drive my curiosity and insatiable need to uncover every. Single. Point. Of. Interest.

Thank goodness for small mercies.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are huge open-world games where I need to collect a thousand and one items calling my name.