A New Hope

On By kyndaris1 Comment

As we all know, 2023 was a messy year in the history of the world. While I know humans are not liable to change just because time has ticked over to 2024, I cannot help but hope for a new beginning. Even as remnants of the past year remains with us.

Much like the games I’ve been playing in the lead-up to the holiday season. And the fact I schedule these posts up to 5 to 6 weeks in advance.

Still, I feel like the themes within Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are particularly apt for a year where we’ve seen the Voice Referendum fail and a renewal to the conflict on the West Bank between Israel and Hamas. As someone who has dabbled a little in reading the histories and likes to think they’re up to date on global events, it’s saddening to see ongoing cycles of hatred with no-one party wishing to break it. After all, the game itself sets itself on the story of Cal Kestis, one of very few survivors of the great Jedi purge after the end of the Clone Wars. Throughout the game, he must reckon with his own need for vengeance when it comes to the Empire and a betrayal near the end of the game, which hits closer to home with his found family.

But as most people know, an eye for an eye only serves to make the whole world blind. Blood begets blood and we are trapped in a vicious cycle of revenge.

Of course, the question arises: how can one forgive such heinous acts done against them by senseless violence and move on?

Although I would like to say I have the answers, I don’t. The entirety of human history is a back and forth of grievances, fuelled by fear, anger, hatred and greed.

And this is something the characters in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are intimately familiar with.

The game itself starts a few years after the ending of the first in the series. Instead of being accompanied by Cere, Greez and Merrin, players find Cal Kestis running with a new group as he continues his work with Saw Gerrera to hurt the Empire in any way he can. His current mission? Stealing information held by a Senator on the planet of Coruscant.

Indeed, the very thing players see is the old Jedi Temple, taken over by the Empire. The very sight of it sets Cal’s teeth on edge.

But as with all things, the heist goes wrong and many of Cal’s friends are killed in the escape from Coruscant. Cal, the playable character, manages to make it to hyperspace before learning of a gyro malfunction. This leads him to crash land on Koboh where we soon learn Greez has set up his own cantina and is living a rustic life on an Outer Rim planet.

From an exciting beginning, the game meanders a little as it introduces new threats such as the Bedlam Raiders and their leader, Rayvis, before pivoting a little to some High Republic history with the likes of Dagan Gera. And while the Empire is an ever present threat to Cal and his crew in this far, far away galaxy, it felt mostly peripheral to a very contained story about finding the mystical planet Tanalor. In fact, I was surprised how much Cal didn’t seem to feel compelled to make contact with Saw again, or to take the fight back to the Empire except near the end when he stormed an Imperial base at Nova Garon.

In fact, so enraged is Cal by a betrayal close to him, he reaches out to the Dark Side of the Force for power. It is only when Merrin is there to calm him down that Cal relents and tries to take a step back from his destructive path.

While the Star Wars universe tends to make many things black and white, with Force wielders seemingly being corrupted as soon as they tap in these ‘dark side’ emotions, it should be noted that Cal being angry and hurt are valid. Just because he is a Jedi does not mean he can’t feel loss or a need for revenge.

And anger and pain and fear aren’t bad.

They simply make him human.

But the most important thing I found when I played through those last few hours was how Cal didn’t allow his need for revenge to consume him. With a little help from Merrin and the presence of Kata to steady him. So, instead of killing the man who had betrayed him and ripped away most of his found family, Cal offered Bode the chance to live.

Of course, this isn’t something most people can do when something horrifying rips their family apart. There’s trauma, there’s fear, there’s anger. It isn’t easy to let bygones be bygones when everything is so real and visceral and immediate.

True, Israel’s actions have only let to more civilian casualties and the loss of many innocents, but they’re only acting like a wounded and desperate beast after the events of October 7th when people were killed and hostages taken. And yes, the Palestinians also deserve their pound of flesh too after seeing children and loved ones die because of aerial bombardment as Israel attempts to smoke out Hamas.

Hopefully by the time this post goes up, a ceasefire has been declared. But the bigger question remains of how to settle the bad blood between these two peoples. Forgiveness is not an easy thing to grant when war crimes and other atrocities have been committed against each other.

And as other countries have shown, such humiliations can be century long grudges. Look no further than China as it tries to assert its dominance in the Pacific region.

From a gameplay perspective, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor presents more of the same but with a more additional flourishes. Since Cal has relearned many of his Force abilities like Force Jump, Force Pull and Force Push, Respawn Entertainment has introduced a few more things to play around with such as Force Lift and Force Slam. Even better, it also adds in new stances like dual wielding, blaster stance and even a crossguard lightsaber – ripped straight from the Sequel Trilogy.

These all add a bit more flavour to the game although I primarily stayed with the single blade as it was the most versatile. Now I need to remind myself to use more Force powers on the regular to deal with my enemies instead of simply toughing it out with only blade work.

Oh, but I cannot talk about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor without also talking about the jump in graphic fidelity when I played on my PlayStation 5. From the first cutscene to the very end, Jedi: Survivor was beautiful. True, sometimes the textures took a while to pop in even though I played the game six months after launch, but the panoramas I saw while gliding or just climbing up a mountain were a sight to behold.

Then, of course, there was the music as it took cues from the score of one John Williams. One tune that stuck with me throughout the game was the little ditty that played whenever I opened up a Stim chest. Instead of Star Wars, it almost had a Hogwarts ring to it. After all, John Williams was also the composer to the Harry Potter films. Is it any wonder some of the motifs and cues are shared?

In any case, after finishing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and nabbing the platinum trophy, I look forward to see what Respawn Entertainment will go next (even as I hope they’ll ditch the Dark Souls-esque nature of the meditation points and the loss of experience points should you fall in battle). It’ll also be interesting to see where Cal’s journey take him next. Especially as we head closer and closer to the events of the original trilogy where the Empire is defeated by upstart rebels.

Also, here’s hoping poor Cal gets to wear his lovable poncho again from the very start of the game instead of it being gated behind an annoying boss battle.

On that note, it is also my most heartfelt wish for the world to find some semblance of balance and peace. Change needs to happen. It is inevitable. Yet, sometimes it’s okay for it to take a bit longer to do so.

As long as it does.

The Never Changing Nature of Humanity and War

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

As another year ends, I look back over the major events that defined it and despair. Humanity seems desperate to repeat the same mistakes of old. Though there are moments when we shine, we are still motivated by greed, jealousy and pride. Look no further than the two wars currently being fought, the posturing in the Pacific and how little our world has done to combat climate change. Still, I suppose things could be worse. We might, after all, be suffering the effects of a nuclear winter (except no-one yet has the cajones to start such a huge chain reaction just yet).

But I digress.

January 2023 was a mess of events. Here in Australia, news of Pope Benedict passing away was only in headlines on New Year’s Day. Other notable deaths included George Pell (a cardinal who was sent to prison for child sexual abuse in 2019 but who had his convictions later quashed) and the former king of Greece. From there, the world spiralled with Europe enduring very warm temperatures for winter (turns out 2023 was the hottest year on record!), Jacinda Ardern resigned from being Prime Minister of New Zealand/ Aotearoa. In Brazil, Bolsonaro tried to pull a Trump by stoking a Capitol-riot-style insurrection. This was later met be counter protesters.

As the year progressed, Kevin McCarthy was elected as speaker to the House of Representatives after going through fifteen rounds of voting. He was later removed and later replaced by another Republican: Mike Johnson. News of his Kevin McCarthy’s unsuccessful bids were later drowned out by the shooting down of a Chinese air balloon. This led to several other unidentified objects to be shot down, which later turned out to be weather balloons set up by civilian scientists.

The United Kingdom enjoyed protests and strikes among public servants due to rising costs of living. Madrid protested their leftist government. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, resigned.

But in case the first quarter of the year wasn’t exciting enough, Mother Nature also wanted to have a little fun by sending a cyclone towards New Zealand (Aotearoa), with many residents suffering from flash-flooding. Oh, and there was an earthquake too!

An earthquake also hammered Turkiye and Syria. What’s particularly telling, though, was the fact most of the humanitarian aid was directed to and more focused on the citizens of Turkiye rather than Syria. It lefts thousands dead and millions were displaced. Thankfully, though, it didn’t much impact this blogger’s trip overseas as our tour stayed primarily in the western portion of Turkiye and din’t venture too far south.

From there, we saw the rise of the H5N1 avian flu, killing huge swathes of domestic and wild birds. The flu also had outbreaks in mink farms. So, although COVID-19 might be in the rearview mirror, there are plenty of new diseases ready to take its place! Like the zombie dear disease which as been spreading in Yellowstone! Essnetially, though, it’s a chronic wasting disease with symptoms such as drastic weight loss, stumbling, listlessness and other neurological symptoms. While there are no current reported cases of this in humans, studies suggest it could pose a risk to anyone who eats meat from infected animals.

Of course, one should never forget that COVID-19 is still rampant around the world. We’ve all just comfortably shoved the little inconvenience to the back of our mind, even as it features as one of the core reasons for death.

Back home in Australia, permanent residency was being offered to many refugees who held temporary protection visas. There was also a resumption of assessments for asylum seeker sponsored visas where they would try to bring family members over.

Speaking of refugees (and jumping ahead a few months), there was a shipwreck off Greece carrying several hundred refugees and migrants. Most were fleeing conflicts in their countries. Of major note was the one in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary force. And when you have many countries refusing to take up migrants or helping out their fellow humans (looking at Tunisia cracking down on illegal immigrants), you end up with many a humanitarian crisis.

Further disasters abounded with a head-on crash in Greece leading to 57 being killed. China later had its own subway crash due to heavy snowfall causing carriages to detach. India, too, also had a train crash killing about 100 people.

Elsewhere, many other social media services began to emulate Elon Musk’s subscription services for Twitter X, allowing users to become ‘verified.’ The Silicon Valley bank collapsed, followed by Credit Suisse leading to a significant downturn on Wall Street as people panicked.

In happy news, Everything Everywhere All At Once won 7 Oscars. A victory, it seemed for so many people living in Asian diasporas across the Western world. Given that many Asians were attacked during the COVID-19 pandemic simply because of their appearance, the win of Everything Everywhere All At Once proved to be a pivotal moment for many.

As the year rolled on, the International Criminal Court issued out a arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Trump was indicted for falsifying business records. He was even later arrested. But alas, nothing has seemed to stick and Trump has used many of the court cases brought against him to target those who would stand against him in his bid for the 2024 electoral campaign.

Following the death of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II last year, King Charles III enjoyed a state coronation alongside his wife, Queen Camilla.

Other quick events: Joe Biden was forced to cancel a trip to Australia to deal with the US debt ceiling. There was the discovery of a Kenyan starvation cult. Tina Turner passed away. There was the destruction of a dam in southern Ukraine by Russian forces.

And in the news of cyber security, there was a hack of file-transfer program MoveIt, affecting many companies and governments. This was topped by a hack against Insomniac and the leaking of 1.6 TB of files showing games in development as well as the personal information of many employees.

As the northern hemisphere reached the summer, Canadia endured several severe wildfires that even affected the air quality in America. Silvio Berlusconi passed away and to cap it all off: five people were killed in an imploding submersible headed down towards the Titanic.

In other news, both domestic and international, corruption findings were noted of previous New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian. A teenage boy was shot dead in France leading to protests. Microsoft won a case against the FTC to delay a merge with Activision-Blizzard. SAF-AFRA began to strike alongside the writer’s guild regarding working conditions with the move to streaming and the threat of AI supplanting jobs.

With summer peaking and then waning, heatwaves continued to devastate America, Europe and Asia. There was the passing of a controversial bill in Israel limiting the power of the Supreme Court to overturn decisions made by government ministers. In Niger, the military staged a coup.

To put our thoughts at ease, people turned on their televisions and headed to stadiums to watch the FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Although Spain won, I’m happy to say Australia’s own team came in fourth with a strong showing and with much love showered on our Matildas.

To keep us on our toes, however, we also saw the death of Wagner Group leader in a plane crash: Yevgeny Prigozhin. There was chaos in New York when live-streamer Kai Cenat decided to host a Give Away event. In Africa, there was another coup. This time in Gabon. And in some positive news, India was the first country to land on the Moon’s south pole.

As the rest of the world headed towards winter, and Australia to summer, Mother Nature thought another earthquake would shake things up a little – killing thousands in Morocco. There was also an earthquake in Afghanistan, killing quite a number of citizens.

And just to fill out our assassination quota for the year, Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in Canada.

But in a move to surprise us all, and to raise the stakes in our very fragile ecosystem, Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October, killing a few thousand and taking hundreds hostage. Israel, of course, retaliated – vowing to crush Hamas. This has since led to Israel bombing the Gaza strip, killing many hundreds of people including children and a few of their own people in a desperate bid to stamp out Hamas.

While there was a brief ceasefire and a release of hostages, the situation is still quite dire for many Palestinians. And now Iran has taken a step, declaring they would close off the Mediterranean.

In Australia, we hosted a referendum for the Voice to Parliament. Unfortunately, it was a campaign filled with a lot of disinformation and misinformation. To my dismay, the Voice to Parliament failed, setting Australia back when it comes to acknowledging Indigenous voices.

As for those clamouring for a Treaty first, while I agree with you that a Treaty would be important, a Voice would have greatly paved the way. Even if it might not have been an immediate change or be the change everyone wanted, sometimes the best way to make things better is by taking small steps. True, it might not be what one hopes for but when it comes to swaying the minds of the public on key issues, governing a nation is a delicate balancing act. TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET BUT DO NOT TRY TO HOLD THE PEOPLE/ BUDGET HOSTAGE. Public opinion IS important but relying solely on populism will get you nowhere and a country in shambles.

Australia also saw several bushfires in Queensland and norther New South Wales. We even had an Optus outage nation-wide, where many people had no internet or phone coverage. It proved, once again, the disadvantages of relying solely on technology and our phones for anything and everything.

And as we neared closer to Christmas and the New Year, Henry Kissinger passed away at the age of 100. In China, there were reports of another mysterious respiratory disease affecting children – with cases of pneumonia beginning to spike again. In north-east Myanmar, a temporary ceasefire was negotiated between the rebels and the military government. New Zealand also saw the rise of a new government (with Labour having been ousted in favour of the National Party). This set in motion a 100-day reform agenda seeking to unwind many of the policies designed to improve outcomes for Maori and Pasifika people, damaging race relations.

In India, after the firing of a smoke grenade in the halls of Parliament, more than half of the Opposition Members of Parliament were suspended in India. Back in America, Joe Biden pardoned thousands convicted of marijuana charges and there was also a mass shooting in Prague!

To round off the year, COP28 was held in Dubai for some inexplicable reason.

And as Santa touched down in Australia, many Australians have been struggling due to the large interest rate hikes and the increased cost of living. Rent, in particular, has proven difficult to overcome for many because of the high demand for housing. Some of it has been exacerbated by inflation but quite a bit of it has also been attributed to the changes in migration policies following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, it’s not an Australian Christmas if we don’t have a cyclone tearing through northern Queensland in the week or two beforehand, leading to floods and the shutdown of Cairns airport.

So ends another rotation of the Earth around the sun. 2023 has had its highs and its many various lows. Yet although it was the hottest year recorded in living history, we are still here, ticking ever closer to midnight for when we destroy the Earth as we know it.

Actually, no. The Earth will be fine in the long run (unless we somehow destroy the core or the sun explodes). It’s us humans who will be wiped out from the planet, resetting civilisation as we know it. And I, for one, am eager for a reset though I doubt we will learn our lesson.

Of course, since I’m writing this post on Christmas Day (and listening to the 2023 Carols in the Domain), I can only hope there will be a light at the end of this very long tunnel we’ve found ourselves in. They do say it’s always darkest before the dawn. Here’s hoping there is a dawn for us all where collective governments can work together to make changes so we can continue thriving on this planet we call home.

Cubano Breaks

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

After several unsuccessful chats with men on the app, I turned my Hinge preferences to women only. Dikottir and Game Master managed to sneak past the gate, wherein I went on a few extra dates with them but they have been the sole surviving men who have made it through my exacting requirements.

So saying, Game Master has somewhat dropped off in terms of conversation in recent weeks. Either because he forgot or he’s busy at work or he feels as if the chemistry has petered off and has moved on to someone else.

It…doesn’t really matter.

As for Dikottir, we still chat and he’s always eager to show off pictures of his pet dog. Of course, neither one of us are excellent conversationalists (and we may share personality traits that make it hard for us to be texting non-stop. Possibly because we’re both secure in who we are and don’t feel the need to constant bombard the other person? Who knows. I know there are days where I don’t feel like I have much to contribute to anything and would rather just sit and play video games/ stream a TV show on Netflix).

But while men tend to message almost near constantly, women, are a different beast altogether. Weeks might go from liking a photo before you receive a non-committal response and you don’t know if you ought to introduce yourself or just go into a tangent about a topic of interest.

It’s always a bit hard when I’m shy, both online and in person, when it comes to meeting new people. But once the conversation starts, I can become quite gregarious when the mood takes me. And confrontational too as happened during one of the dinner dating experiences where I met Hong Kong and Jordan.

Anyways, suffice it to say, it’s been hard trying to date women in comparison to men. Although, there have been a few I’ve managed to talk to now.

None of them, of course, being Rad from Good Game because, believe or not, I saw she had a profile on HINGE! And yes, I may have liked a photo in the hopes we could become friends. Alas.

Still, perhaps it’s for the best. How do you approach someone you’ve seen on the internet anyways? And it would just be too weird. Like suddenly realising Natalie Tran of communitychannel fame were to reach out to me and declare that we’re best buds. Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from hoping I’d bump into her on the streets of Sydney one of these days and either hugging her or giving her a chill fist-bump.

As you do.

In so saying, one of my friends who reads this blog has a sister who only knows of the Kyndaris represented here in these words. And it’s a little unnerving when I ponder the possibility of her ever meeting me in person because I’m certainly not as eloquent when speaking in person. Then there’s the fact of my appearance. Honestly, I’m just afraid I’d disappoint.

Anyways, dating!

So, although it’s nearly the end of the year on writing this post, I’ve not actually gone on any dates with women. Yes, we chat, but neither side is willing to take the plunge. And given the fact I’m more of a Wednesday rather than an Enid, it might take a very long time. Unless I gather up my courage and simply ask.

Unfortunately, though, my weekends have been quite packed with a lot of catch-ups with friends and (at time of writing) my poor grandmother was hospitalised after we went to check her failing eyesight at an ocular surgeon’s clinic. And no, it’s nothing serious and she’ll probably have been discharged when this post goes live, but it’s just another burden on me. Coupled with the fact my mum has absconded to China, it’s not been an easy few months.

On the plus side, it won’t be as weird if there IS a connection with a special someone and I decide to bring them back to my place? Not sure what we’d do, though. Maybe they can watch me play video games? Or we could just chat.

So, this isn’t a story about going on a date with someone. This, dear reader, is a story about NEARLY going on a date with someone.

But how can you NEARLY go out on a date with someone, I hear you ask? Quite simple!

In early October, after my road trip with a few friends down to the Southern Coast, I was texting a woman – let’s call her Senorita. We exchanged a chats about mythology, primarily in terms of Medusa and if Athena’s actions were right or not. But while she was of the view Athena turned the woman into a Gorgon in order to protect Medusa, I told Senorita it depends on which version of the myth you read as the legends have been retold over the centuries with a new bent.

Plus, if Athena truly wanted to protect Medusa, why give Perseus a mirror shield to help slay the poor woman afterwards? In any case, the Greek Gods were a contrary lot and trying to understand their motives is an exercise in futility.

From humble beginnings, Senorita then asked if I was more of an impulse-driven thrill seeker or someone who liked to plan things out. The answer, I’m sure, dear reader, you can figure out.

After I gave her my answer, she told me to live a little and then asked if I was free on the weekend.

Unfortunately, I was not as I was catching up with friends and needed some time out after going on a road trip and then getting a hair cut, and then driving all the way to Central Coast to show it off to a dear friend.

So, then, I posed the question if Senorita was free the next weekend. Her response? She was going camping. Which, honestly, was fair.

She did, however, tell me she was free on Friday.

I, however, told her I was going to meet work friends on Friday in Parramatta to check out a festival involving good food, music and entertainment. Senorita, for some unknown reason, latched onto the idea of meeting up afterwards. But by afterwards, she meant about 6 PM, only an hour after the festival would begin.

Given the time constraints, and the fact I’d already agreed ahead of time to meet my work friends, I replied it would be tight but I would see what I could do. I even informed her it might have to be after 6, and perhaps 7, if we wanted to grab dessert or something for a quick meet-up.

Senorita agreed.

On the day, I caught up with my work friends at 5 PM, right outside the train station before we headed further into the festival of ‘Parramatta Lanes.’ Along the way, we admired the stalls, checking to see what kind of foods were on offer. I, of course, showed off my new haircut to their utter amazement as they hadn’t expected such a dramatic change from me.

After heading down the main food street in Parramatta, we headed to the rooftop party at a local carpark. One foodtruck that caught our eye was Kurepu Crepes Harajuku, the most tiktoked crepe! Unfortunately, none of my work friends were eager to join the massive line.

Unsatisfied with the food options available, we headed to an actual restaurant. By then, it was 6 PM and I let Senorita know I was having dinner with my work friends. I even gave her the option of coming over to where we were eating: Coco Cubano or meeting up afterwards. For some reason, Senorita was reticent, telling me to enjoy dinner but not advising if we were going to meet up later.

By the time my work friends and I finished dinner, it was a few minutes after 7. Given I’d given Senorita that approximate timeframe, and with my work friends wishing to depart right afterwards, I messaged Senorita to see if they were keen for that meet-up.

As I walked to my car, I received no reply from the woman. By then, it had been a good thirty minutes since I’d sent her the message and I wasn’t keen on waiting around for someone who wouldn’t reply to me even though I had been giving her clear communication throughout the night, and she had tried to force a meet-up even after I’d told her I was meeting friends.

It wasn’t until I finally got home that I received a message from Senorita over Hinge telling me she didn’t think I’d be able to make it and that she agreed to go to a gig with a friend. She then told me we could reschedule the meet-up (which, honestly, should have happened beforehand with her realising I wasn’t going to ditch my friends over someone I’d only just chatted to on the internet). I wished her luck at the gig and she told me she would.

Since then, we haven’t chatted since although I was very tempted to unmatch her there and then.

What I got out of the entire experience was the temerity of some of the people on the Hinge app. Why force yourself into a night out when I was already seeing my work friends? And then later flake even though I had told you exactly where I was and the approximate time I’d finish?

Utterly no respect!

My eye was constantly on the time but I didn’t want to be rude to my work friends and brush them off.

In the end, though, if given the same choice, I’d pick my work friends every time over a woman like Senorita.

It also soon transpired that Senorita worked Sunday to Thursday. So, if you were available to meet on Friday, dear Senorita, why were you only camping for a day on Saturday? Is it even camping if you don’t do it overnight?

Anyways, it was good riddance to a time-waster.

I’m not sure if the other women I’m currently chatting to will burn me just as bad as Senorita, but it’s the risk one takes by putting oneself out there. At the very least, I’m getting to meet new people. And hey, if it doesn’t work out, I still have my fictional boyfriends/ girlfriends to keep me going. Along with my Squishmellow Snorlax.

Trapped in a Cycle

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

From the sunny tropical island of Koholint, I was thrust into the wet and dreary Pale City as I followed the theme of nightmares for month of October in the video games I played. But while Link’s Awakening had nightmares made manifest by a dream world, Little Nightmares II only featured nightmares in the title of the game. Still, the game, much likes it predecessor in the franchise, felt very much like playing through a waking nightmare. Especially as I explored a broken down society, with many of its denizens enraptures by the screen before them. Which, in and of itself, feels like a reflection of how current society is obsessed with their little pocket screens.

Although it was never explicitly stated, Little Nightmares II serves as a prequel to the first game in series. Just like the first game, Little Nightmares, it nails the atmosphere of what makes a good and proper horror game without relying solely on jump scares. As I played, there was always a sensation of impending doom and I was always fearful of what I might find around the corner. Coupled with the designs of the enemies, I certainly could not shake how unnerved I was throughout my time with the game. This was especialyl true during the mannequin level in the hospital and during the boss fight with the giant version of Six as she hovered protectively over a music box.

Speaking of music, it, too, played an important role in building atmosphere for the game. The soundtrack was eerily haunting with its use of piano and several key musical motifs. Of note, as well, was how the game also incorporated silence to help build tension. I know that I, not a heavy horror player, was on tenterhooks throughout the game as I crept through levels waiting for the sudden crescendos or the telltale notes to warn me of danger the next screen over.

The music, combined with the gameplay, left me with unease throughout my playthrough, which was perfect for the spooky season of October.Unlike most games I play, there is little Mono can do against his foes. Most of the time, he must run from whatever threat the game sees fit to throw at the player. Thankfully, there are moments can fight back providing a sense of empowerment that is usually lacking when running for one’s life. I, especially, liked being able to grab hold of an axe or a bat to whack people or kill a creepy crawly mannequin hand.

But the gameplay, it should be noted, was also what proved incredibly frustrating throughout my time with the game. Some of it was due to the timing when it came to Mono swinging his weapons. Other times, it was the finicky hit boxes or the narrow window players were given to escape a threat. True, it added to the growing panic and tension, but by the time I was redoing the same section for the umpteenth time, much of the horror had bled away and I was left more annoyed than scared.

Of course, since playing through Star Wars Jedi: Survivor‘s Force Tears, this is less of an issue now. If anyone was able to do those platforming ones first go, I tip my hat off to you.

From a story perspective, Little Nightmares II keeps it close the vest. After all, this is a game with no dialogue. Everything is told via the environment and through the occasional interactions between Mono and the girl he rescues, who is later revealed to be the protagonist of the first game: Six.

Going online, there are theories aplenty of why Mono is in the Palce City and how he got there. The most popular theory says Mono is trapped in a time loop with no memory of what happened before. After all, why dream of the door in the Signal Tower where his supposed future self, the Thin Man, resides behind? And also, why is there a TV right next to him in the forest clearing he starts the game in?

These are all pertinent questions that need answers to but the game doesn’t quite explain.

The theory also extends further to the Thin Man’s motivations and his actions throughout the game. This includes taking Six away rather than going for both her and Mono. Some have even speculated that the Thin Man was trying to save his younger self from the trauma of the inevitable betrayal from Six. One, sparked because Six saw Mono’s true face and realised he was the Thin Man all along – the one who had trapped her.

But I ask you: why then doesn’t the Thin Man just let them go? If Six betrays Mono because she was captured, then isn’t the way to break the loop be to not traumatise her in the first place?

If that were not the case, what else could motivate Six to leave behind? Especially given the fact she’d always been there to catch mono in the past.

Was she always evil then? And what of the Hunger that seemed to only come into play until the very end during the secret ending?

So many questions, so little answers. And now, Little Nightmares III has been announced!

While I’m curious to see how it will unfold, I’m still unsure if I’ll pick it up given it was advertised as a co-op game (albeit with online co-op functionality and can be played solo if so chose). Then again, I want to see how, or IF, it ties back to Six in any way shape or form. There’s still so much to be plumbed in this strange world the developers have created.

Even though it’s creepy and scary, Little Nightmares knew how to keep me hooked with the many mysteries it lay out. Here’s hoping the third game in the series doesn’t disappoint.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Little Nightmares II. As a short game, it was a fun dive into something a little different from the usual triple-A titles I normally play. And given I’d played the first game in the series, I was curious to see how the second one would unfold after reading all about it on the internet. I’m certainly going to put the soundtrack on just to give it a proper listen when I’ve the time.

And Then You Wake…

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

Ever since watching Inception, the idea of living life in one’s dreams has always held an allure for me. Especially given how vivid and complex and awe-inspiring some of my dreams have been. After all, I’m not one who usually has dreams that feel like the every day, where I’m plugging away at work or going to school only to find I’ve forgotten to wear pants. Rather, my dreams have always felt like elaborate films or action set pieces (the ones I remember, at least). Sometimes there will be zombies chasing after me and a group of survivors who look like my friends. Other times, a dragon might erupt from the floor of my preschool.

I ask you, dear readers, who wouldn’t want to explore that kind of fantastical world over the mundane boring real world?

In The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, after being struck by lightning in the middle of a storm, Link washes up on the shores of Koholint Island. What he doesn’t initially know, although he will later find out, is that Koholint exists only as the dream of the mythical Wind Fish. It’s an illusory land filled with people and monsters and nightmares, along with references to the Mario games.

While some might argue Link’s actions heinous as he strives to leave the island by waking the Wind Fish because to do so would destroy a living breathing world, I believe Link’s actions are no worse than what we do in our fictional video games. For, no matter how real something can feel or seem, in the end, Marin and the villagers we meet are only figments of another’s imagination. They aren’t real. At least, not in the way most would understand.

I’m sure you’ve heard the argument before. Especially when one grows attached to a set of programmed pixels. In my head I know Garrus Vakkarian wouldn’t look twice at me and that he’s a fictional alien, but it doesn’t stop me from fantasising over the best way to get him to fall for my Commander Shepard.

The same could be extended to characters in television shows and movies. The time we spent with them can feel as real as spending time with actual friends, but in the end, they’re not actually a living breathing flesh human you could possibly bump into on the street. Yes, you might bump into the actor who plays them but an actor could be miles different from the character you’ve come to know and love.

On that note, just because something isn’t real doesn’t mean our connection with them isn’t. As the Wind Fish says, though no-one else will ever encounter Koholint Island after it’s gone, it lives on in Link’s memory and the gamers who played the game.

It’s a bit like grief and losing someone close to you. In fact, it’s the perfect allegory/ metaphor.

They might be gone in the physical sense but they will always be with you in spirit. As long as you cling to those precious memories of who they once were and dream of the possibility of who they could be.

Now if you feel like someone has been cutting onions close to you, wipe away those tears for I need to get started proper on my impression on Link’s Awakening.

Eschewing the very popular Tears of the Kingdom, I chose to use the back portion of 2023 to catch up on a few of the games I missed earlier in the Switch’s life cycle in order to free up some storage on my limited storage space. 128GB is simply not enough. Heck, even the 700GB my PlayStation 5 internal storage isn’t enough for all the games I want to play when every new game trends towards 100 GB upon disc install.

But I also wanted to play Link’s Awakening because it was a Zelda game I have yet to play. And because it was also nice and short and I could use it as a palate cleanser from the very lengthy Fire Emblem: Engage. Plus, you know, the claymation style also tickled my fancy.

From the moment Link awoke, I was on my way gathering up all the necessary things I’d need to wake the Wind Fish and to explore Koholint Island. Along the way, I encountered nightmares trying to prevent the Wind Fish from waking, along with the occasional meta fourth wall breaks from the denizens of the world.

Over the course of the time I spent with the game, I managed to collect all of the heart containers, upgrades for my weapons and fish up Cheep Cheeps and Ol’ Baron.

Unlike the sprawling open worlds that have come to dominate the wider video game landscape, Link’s Awakening was downright compact, even as I occasionally backtracked because I missed a Secret Shell or unlocked a new way to reach a heart container. The world felt alive in a way so many open-world games lack because of the forethought when it came to item placement and the construction of the world.

From a gameplay perspective, Link’s Awakening follows a tried and true formula of unlocking specific items that help you in the following boss battle, which in turn allows Link to explore the rest of the island as new routes open up.

Given how short the game is, it helps gate certain content while also leaving players salivating for what might come next. I know I was always keen to see where Link would be directed to go next and how the new tools in his arsenal would help him solve the problems placed before him.

Special mention, though, needs to be placed on the Roc Feather, which allowed Link to jump. Oh, and the grapple hook. Those were some of the most useful tools in Link’s arsenal and in most situations, they were the two items I kept equipped unless I faced an enemy that needed a different approach.

While some puzzles and dungeons could be a little obtuse, especially the latter ones, I didn’t find myself too aggrieved. After all, in the day of the internet, it’s easier to find the path I need to go to unlock the next path forward before putting my phone down to enjoy the game as is.

Still, a hint system wouldn’t hurt on the odd occasion when the going gets tough. Especially when it came to figuring out how the horse chess pieces worked.

As for story, well, there’s not much to say. There’s no real threat beyond the nightmares preventing the Wind Fish, and by extension Link, from awakening. Indeed, their actions are only confined to the dungeons they’re located in and are only exacerbated by Link’s attempt to get off the island to, no doubt, rescue Princess Zelda in some part of Hyrule.

There’s no underlying subplot waiting to be uncovered.

Link’s objective is clear. Wake the Wind Fish. Get off Koholint Island.

And once he’s completed it, the game ends.

There is much that could be said of the minimal plot but it serves its purpose to keep the players plodding along. While the reveal that Koholint Island is only a dream might offer up a dilemma to players’, Link, for his part, keeps on pressing on.

But as with all stories, be they video games, books and dreams, there always comes an end. If anything, Link’s Awakening only serves to make it clear that although something may end, they can remain with us for as long as wish. Certainly, the creation of fanfiction is one such way. And even now when I look back on a wonderful, they all serve as a means to keeping Koholint Island alive although my time with it has gone, vanishing into the swirling mists of the subconsciousness as I rise to the surface and wake.

Ring-ing in a New Era

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

When I first saw the trailer for Fire Emblem: Engage, I was sceptical at first. After all, it looked like a clear departure from what had come before. The previous titles, Three Houses, Fates and Awakening had taken the franchise in a new direction and Engage appeared like it was retreading familiar ground with its striking visual style and return of the weapon triangle.

What struck me, though, was the character design. Especially for main character Alear. Both red and blue hair for the protagonist? What kind was of new madness was this? Of course, the internet jumped onto it, nicknaming poor Alear Colgate-kun. And thus the memes began.

Little did I know the extent of the depravity within the game itself in the form of support conversations. In fact, Alear was probably the sanest character out of the entirety of the new cast.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Fire Emblem: Engage released at the start of 2023 with fairly average hype. While the reviews were decent, it wasn’t exactly mindblowing as the series returned to its roots to celebrate the vast history of the franchise. After the heights that was Three Houses, Intelligent Systems dialled back on the sombre and serious storytelling. Instead, they provided a somewhat cliche world popping with its vibrant anime aesthetic and a ton of quirky characters looking to save the world from an evil Fell Dragon.

The game starts with Alear racing through the halls, their allies holding back a horde of the Corrupted. It isn’t long before they confront Sombron and strike the villain down. Everything then turns white and before the player knows it, a thousand years have passed as Alear wakes up to their three stewards: Vander, Framme and Clanne. Overjoyed by the Divine One’s awakening, they bring Alear up to speed about what has happened during their slumber before rushing them to meet the Divine Dragon Lumera.

On the way to Lythos, however, our four heroes confront one of the Corrupted and learn that Sombron has returned!

So begins Alear’s journey to put a stop to the Fell Dragon. During their quest, they recruit the princes and princesses of the four other nations in the world, along with their retainers, to build up their own personal army. As well as the Emblem Rings that were held in trust, each of them hosting one hero from previous games including Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Leif, Lyn, Roy, Eirika (although her twin brother Ephraim also makes the occasional appearance), Ike, Micaiah, Lucina, Corrin and Byleth. Together, the twelve Emblem Rings would be able to grant immeasurable power to whoever wielded all 12 every thousand years.

But while the plot was the weakest portion of the game, with an odd time-travel gimmick in one of the later chapters, and Sombron’s motivation for destroying the world merely because he wanted to reunite with his very first Emblem and returning to his home world, I didn’t mind it too much. Especially when the game itself didn’t take itself too seriously.

Honestly, the amount of times Alear seemingly just stood there in an empty hall as the enemies nicked their Emblem rings just had me shaking my head. Then, of course, there was the ending of Chapter 10, and the beginning of Chapter 11, where Alear was whining at Veyle to return their Emblem Rings gosh darn it!

“Give me back the Emblem Rings!”

The temper tantrum throwing was just so silly. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

But imagine if Veyle did do just that? It would have been such an easy cop out to have the game end because the villain decided to acquiesce to the protagonist’s demand.

And while the plot needed some work, what I loved the most about the writing were the bond and support conversations with the various Emblem Rings and other members of my party. Of note was the fact that a few of the Emblem Rings seemed to recognise Lady Anna (probably because of the many other merchants also named Anna in the series).

What threw me the most, though, was how fruity some of the other conversations were. Like Alfred and Boucheron’s C support. Sure, Alfred was quirky because he was obsessed with muscles but one had to wonder if the way he admired my poor sweet Boucheron’s natural physique as some sort of sexual harassment. Although, the C support conversation with Bunet also had me spit out the water I was drinking with all the double entendres that were hidden within.

Seriously.

GET. A. ROOM!

The fact that Alfred’s A support with fellow musclehead Etie only cemented the fact in my mind that Alfred was clearly batting for the other side as they laughed off their very platonic workout buddy feels even though Alfred’s mother, the Queen, had made Etie his retainer solely because she thought Etie might be Firene’s future monarch.

Don’t even get me started on Etie and Goldmary! Or Chloe and Merrin!

True, many of the support conversations were primarily focused on each character’s individual quirks and playing those up, but I couldn’t help but chuckle along as Timerra forced both Diamant and Ivy to start singing.

If Engage still had paired endings, I definitely know who I would have wanted to end up together. At the very least, though, my male Alear was able to live out his dreams with the caring bear of a man, Diamant. Theirs was a romance I started shipping right from the very start with their C support. Chloe came a close second.

From a combat perspective, Engage included many staple favourites such as the return of the weapon triangle. While I didn’t feel like using an axe against a sword during the player phase detracted too much from dealing damage to the enemy, being able to break the enemy to prevent them from retaliating was a nice touch. It also brought in some strategy beyond rushing blindly ahead with my most powerful units.

Of course, just because a sword wielder could break an axe wielder meant nothing when Louis was on the field. It was great to learn that dealing zero damage against my high defense great knight meant that he could not be broken. And so, equipped with a greataxe, Louis could decimate the enemies around him with aplomb as they all tried to put him down.

The Engage feature also brought in new elements to the game, granting access to weapons my units might not normally wield. This was a welcome relief after learning that cavaliers could be classified as sword, lance or axe without the ability to wield any other weapon except the one weapon type. This came as quite a shock when I tried equipping a sword for Amber to use, only to learn he couldn’t use it!

On the plus side, no weapon durability this time round! So, there was no need to waste too much money buying new equipment every two or three maps for my favourite characters because the weapon I used broke!

Huzzah!

AND weapons could be refined and engraved to deal additional damage!

Engage brought in many new features that scratched my itch for a good turn-based role-playing game and it did so with much aplomb. Additionally, it also included a few fun minigames like fishing (although I’m convinced the sit-up training montage was designed to give everyone RSI). But more than that, it also included some of the most unhinged and fruity characters I’ve ever seen! And I love Intelligent Systems all the more for it.

After watching all four seasons of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, I’m here for all the shenanigans.

BRING ON THE UNHINGE!

What’s that Bunet, you want to go taste the pillars of the castle? Yes! Go for it! Don’t let me stop you!

And Framme, continue doing your very best to fangirl. It’s not CREEPY at all. Nope. No sirree.

Oh no. Rosado and Merrin are having a duel over which style is better? Cool versus cute? Sure, go ahead. I’d like to know who’d win too.

Etie. Goldmary. Why would anyone close the lights just to hold hands? We all KNOW something more is going on there. Don’t deny it.

Gothic September Moods

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

So, the strangest thing happened when I went to a Big W (a store akin to Kmart here in Australia) back in September. As I was looking for more Lego to add to my possible collection, I couldn’t help but notice certain decorations already out on display. It was so horrifying, I had to express my outrage to a few of my friends in our shared Discord group. I mean, it was only September!

I had wanted someone to come over and slap me to make sure it was all a horrid dream.

No, it wasn’t the fact there were pumpkins, skeletons, witches and memorabilia from The Nightmare Before Christmas. In fact, I gladly welcome the infiltration of Halloween to Australia’s shores – although I wish it could have arrived when I was a lot younger and could go out trick or treating.

No. It was CHRISTMAS decorations! Who in their right mind would start putting out Christmas decorations in SEPTEMBER? BEFORE EVEN HALLOWEEN HAS COME AND GONE?

It makes no sense!

It’s sheer insanity!

And so, to celebrate this horrific event, Game Master and I took the opportunity to go watch a fitting film: The Haunting of Venice starring the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Kenneth Branagh as everyone’s favourite Belgium detective (because, as we all know from the previous post, the best and most awesome detective in the world is one Sherlock Holmes).

Initially, of course, Game Master and I had intended to go grab some Lego brick burgers. Unfortunately, there were only available on select weekends. A novelty concept that would have been fun to try but, alas, Game Master works weekends and didn’t really have time to spare.

As such, we enacted plan B! Go out and enjoy a night at the movies watching Kenneth Branagh ham it up with his terrible accent (it’s debatable if he or Daniel Craig is the worst of the two), and try to solve the murder before movie came to a close.

To my shame, I didn’t quite ‘solve’ it so much as remark how odd that the mother was never truly interrogated as much as the other possible suspects. And the odd push about finding a pot of honey in a linen closet. Truly, such strange details that if I’d bothered to put my thinking cap on would have led me to the actual solution.

In my defence, I was being creeped out by the voices of young girls giggling (which was great sound-mixing by the way because I, initially, didn’t think it was from the movie itself but me hearing strange things). So, props to A Haunting in Venice for making even me doubt my own sanity even as I jumped at the occasional predictable jump scare.

Still, even with the movie, Game Master and I did stop by for some quick Japanese food. While I still felt we could have tried a slightly fancier restaurant for some quality grub, Game Master was keen to return to his university roots and go back to an old restaurant that provided some decent food for a fraction of the cost.

While I didn’t want to begrudge him something comfortable, we were on a DATE. You would think that we might try something a little bit better than just a $10 meal.

Yes, I know the cost of living sucks, what with high interest rates (and as someone with a mortgage, I feel this terribly), and some sticky inflation, and I shouldn’t be complaining but it only hammered home how differing views on a proper night out. It’s almost like going out to McDonalds even though the both of us make a semi-livable wage.

We aren’t poor broke students anymore. We can afford to treat ourselves a little!

But that may be because I wanted to try out some desserts from DOPA.

What can I say? I’ve a sweet tooth.

After the film was over, Game Master and I chatted for a while as we waited for my train. Given that it was a Thursday and a few of the shops were still open, we checked out a few toys and Game Master (much like the second date) bought himself a Gacha toy. Whether or not he considers it a souvenir of our time together is a mystery. What I do know is that he very much likes to collect quite a few featuring cats.

And so, my third date with Game Master came to an end.

Was it a good one?

It was decent. We didn’t end up getting dessert (which I would have preferred) but I still enjoyed my time as we chatted about the economy. I provided a few solid ideas to Game Master on possible social media promotion for his workplace and he also ran through a few of his hopes for his future career.

But the real question, of course, is whether I can see a relationship between the two of us. And I feel like the answer is a no? We could be friends but I don’t really feel anything romantic would sprout.

Who knows. Maybe I need to give it some time.

After all, they do say it takes 200 hours of regular contact to make a stranger into a good friend. So, maybe that’s just it.

As I’ve said before, I’m not someone that would readily jump someone’s bones. And the thought that I’m out here, looking for love, only makes the search harder and more fraught.

Still, on the plus side, I gave Game Master a new franchise to love: The Hercule Poirot films. He’d only ever heard of them before but he seems to have fallen in love with the whodunnit formula. So, yay for introducing a fellow to the art of deduction?

On a completely unrelated note, I CUT MY HAIR! I paid $70 and now my long hair is GONE!

It’s now short! And I’ve got to get used to that fact! Even as I keep doing things that would make sense for a person with long hair, like trying to pull it out when I slip on a shirt or whipping my head forward so I can dry my long locks (which no longer exist!).

Dear readers, pray for this humble blogger as she mourns for her long lost hair.

That is all. That is the only real reason you should ever read this blog. Gaming? Psh. Dating life? Boorrring! Hair shenanigans. Yes. That’s exactly what I know you guys are here for!

A Great Detective’s Beginning

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

I think I’ve said before that Sherlock Holmes is a character I greatly admire. Ever since reading about his adventures in a huge omnibus collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, I wanted to emulate the great detective in all things with a doctor companion by my side. The art of observation was something I attempted to train my younger self in by studying the fingers of a stranger or the scuffs on their shoes for just a hint of what it might tell me about their life.

Unfortunately, it’s not every day one stumbles on a murder. Second, it’s not like many a policeman would allow a random civilian to take part in their investigations. Life, it seems, is unlike the world of my many stories. A shame, really. I feel like I would have been an excellent sidekick to the great Sherlock Holmes.

Since my childhood dream is but an impossibility, playing as Sherlock Holmes in a series of video games has become the next best thing for someone like me.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One released in 2021 and was developed by Frogwares, a video game developer headquartered in Ukraine. Over the years, I’ve played many a game that they’ve churned out. While the quality is middling at best – given the studio straddles the line of indie developer and triple-A studio – there is something endearing about their games that keep me coming back for more. Jankiness be damned!

Chapter One is set in Sherlock’s younger years before he meets his erstwhile companion, Dr John Watson. While the game demonstrates that Sherlock has always had a special talent for deduction, there is an uncertainty to the character that we meet as he ponders the best way to utilise the truth. For example, one of the latter cases involved handing over incriminating evidence of a leading political leader of Cordona to better the lives of all African refugees. True, Sherlock could publish the information and see another corrupt politician fall, but doing so would not serve to benefit many an individual. Nor would it see restitution to the victim.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Chapter One centres on Sherlock visitng the island of Cordona, a fictional island that feels like it borrows elements from Cyprus and Malta’s history. Our not-quite-great detective arrives to visit his mother’s, Violet Holmes, grave. Upon immediately disembarking, he is embroiled in one mystery of another sparked by a challenge from his companion, Jon.

The Jon that stars in Chapter One is no doctor, however. Rather, he is Sherlock’s imaginary friend. Because of this, Frogwares is able to incorporate their janky gameplay for narrative purposes, such as the teleporting John Watson from the good old days, the vanishing and clipping of Jon as he fades in and out of existence, or the fact that he is able to walk up walls.

He’s not real to the people of Cordona and is a figment of Sherlock’s imagination.

This plays into the story of the game as well, culminating in a showdown as Sherlock reckons with a traumatic event from the past. While I didn’t like the choices that eventuated – agreeing with many people on Reddit that the logic Sherlock incorporated in his assessment of what had happened to his mother when he was ten was a little harsh – I did very much being given the opportunity to take a peek at a Sherlock before the one many of us fans see in his first novel appearance: A Study in Scarlet.

From a gameplay perspective, Chapter One incorporated many elements from the previous games including the mind palace and the connecting of clues to make deductions. Though 221b Baker Street didn’t exist, Sherlock was able to make use of the archives in the city of Cordona and seemingly carried a box of chemicals with him to deduce whatever strange fluid he stumbled upon. This streamlined a lot of the gameplay from older games and also made sense from a story narrative.

My main issue, of course, was failing to take into consideration elements of the environment or character writing/ behaviour when making my deductions to certain cases and allowing my own biases to shine through. For example, the very first case. I very much wanted it to be the prone-to-anger partner, who acted like a rich entitled arsehole.

Alas, it was the poor spirit medium.

The other cases didn’t have such clear cut culprits, with many open to interpretation. Fortunately, there were three major side quests that were able to fill the void left open by the need to have a very obvious antagonist – leading up to Sherlock wowing them with his deductive prowess before breaking down.

This added additional flavour to the island of Cordona, even as it worried me that so many murders or accidental manslaughter could be happening in and around the island.

Still, as a mystery nut, I very much appreciated how much of these cases Frogwares scattered throughout the game and probably would have preferred some more if I’m being perfectly honest.

Then, of course, there were the combat elements Frogwares included in their game. While previous titles didn’t have as much action sequences beyond a few quick-time action button presses, here, Sherlock was facing off against various thugs. Most of these involved stunning them by shooting at weakpoints (such as their hat or a molotov cocktail strapped to their back) before rushing forward to knock them out.

While these encounters added a little spice to the usual ‘go here’ and ‘search for clues’ aspect of the game, these elements did also become quite repetitive due to how little these elements changed from encounter to encounter.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Chapter One much more than I did Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong solely because of how open the game world was and how much it tickled the itch I had to deduct the events of what happened. While I appreciated Jon’s commentary of my greatness, I was also aggrieved when certain things I did, which felt logical at the time, were gated by how the game wished for Sherlock to proceed with a certain clue or piece of information.

In the end, though Chapter One still made me feel like I knew what I was doing. And honestly, that’s probably the only real way to make a consulting detective of a modern-day 30 year-old woman who grew up reading tales of Victorian England and obsessing over the BBC version of Sherlock in the year of 2010, starring the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

Mirror Maze

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

Although there were no immediate sparks between Dikottir and me, we continued to chat on Hinge. Unlike many of the other men I chatted to, Dikttori wasn’t very consistent in his messages over Hinge. Occasionally, a day or two would pass before I’d receive a response from him. Supposedly it was because he’d draft a response and forget to send it through or Hinge would glitch on his android phone.

Whatever the reason, he wasn’t consistently spamming me with messages, which was a nice change of pace because I’m often playing video games or writing up blog posts or editing my stories, and leaving my phone far away from me. Something that most would regard as abnormal for a Millennial, but the only time I take my phone is when I’m dying of boredom and don’t have a convenient book lying around. In fact, my mother uses her phone far more than I do and you can see it in the battery health.

Still, I thought it best to get to know Dikottir a little better. After all, I’m a slow burn type of person. It’s only when I’ve become friends with someone and known them for a quite a while before I start to properly open up.

While they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, I find the opposite holds true when you’re first trying to get to know someone. Shocking, I know, coming from an introvert who never seems to leave the sanctity of the house.

So, when the the PowerHouse Museum featured the Kaleidoscope exhibit, I asked Dikottir if he was interested. This was, after all, the man who had suggested checking out Oh! Bento and who had earlier gone twice to an Air Crash/ Seance exhibition at the PowerHouse.

Thankfully, Dikottir hadn’t been to Kaleidoscope just yet and was open to checking it out. After arranging a date amenable to the two of us, we bought our tickets online separately.

I arrived early to the date, mostly because I needed to roam around the city a little in order to buy a Father’s Day gift for my stepfather. Kyndaris, I hear you international readers ask, wasn’t Father’s Day in June? Well, no. In Australia, it’s celebrated on the first weekend of September. Which was when Dikottir and I went on our date to the Kaleidoscope.

Given the fact that my stepfather and I weren’t on talking terms, I wasn’t certain how much effort I ought to put into present buying. But I knew I wanted to do something better than buying him a pair of underwear like my mother. After all, I’m a pretty observant individual (at least I like to think so) and knew he had an interest in taking photos. Whether the photos he took were good or not, I couldn’t say. It’s not like he showed me.

And it was the easiest of his hobbies to buy for as his ones included playing sport, reading online stories or playing mahjong on his phone.

By the time I rocked up to Kaleidoscope, I’d purchased a cleaning kit and a strap for my stepfather.

Along the way, I stopped by Anime Kaika. From the name alone, it should come as no surprise that the store is where people can anime merchandise. Inside, three Nenderoids caught my eye: Kingdom Hearts III Riku, Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth.

While I was tempted to buy at least one of them, in order to add to my collection of figurines (which, albeit isn’t very extensive), I withheld on the purchase. After all, I am a woman with a mortgage and limited funds. I am, as well, a responsible adult who spends her money on normal adult things. Like groceries, books, video games, books, work clothes, books, video games and other necessary items.

Anyways, after a quick jaunt through the city, I arrived outside the Kaleidoscope exhibit near the PowerHouse museum. It wasn’t long before Dikttori joined me and the two of us entered the mirror maze. Almost immediately, I discovered a trick to help differentiate the critical path and what were a series of reflections: staring at the ground and seeing where the bottom of the mirror was. Dikottir, impressed by my talents, informed me I’d no doubt be an excellent competitor of the hit Netflix show Squid Game or its final survivor.

Something I very much doubted because some of the games played were pure luck rather than skill. And I’d no doubt die in some gruesome manner one way or the other.

Not to mention the fact that I’d probably also be one of the first to turn into a zombie if the world descended into a zombie apocalypse.

After a good thirty minutes where Dikottir and I were thoroughly turned around, we managed to escape Kaleidoscope, taking photos of what it looked like in the daytime and the impressive evening light show.

From Kaleidoscope, we hoofed it to World Square where we enjoyed some Ippudo ramen (it was a cold September night) and chatted about the upcoming Voice referendum (which by the time this post goes up will have ended) and other social causes that we believed strongly in. After filling our stomachs with ramen, Dikottir tried to locate a Thai dessert place. But unlike most men I knew, he was surprisingly terrible at directions, and I had to step in to slowly guide him to Mango Coco.

Unfortunately, the line there was huge so we abandoned our initial plans of dessert and headed for a bubble tea place on George Street instead. As we walked, we talked about work and our lives, before we stopped by a busker playing anime, game and classical music on his portable keyboard.

Just like that, the night was over.

Did I think Dikottir and I were a good match?

Well, he certainly had a decent job and we shared similar sentiments when it came to politics (which, honestly, probably isn’t something that should be raised during dates but there it is), but I can’t say if I felt anything for him beyond the fact he seemed a decent and affable man. Dikottir was certainly more educated than many of the others I’d met and seemed wiser than his thirty odd years.

It begs the question why a man like him hadn’t settled down earlier with a nice girl.

But it also makes me wonder if I am aromantic as well as asexual. Or if perhaps my romantic interests lie elsewhere. Dating women, however, is a difficult endeavour and I’m not sure if I’ll ever find the right person for me to prove or disprove my suspicions.

I know, of course, that I can obsess over people and feel deep platonic care and worry for my friends…but where does one draw the line between friendship and romance? It’s a question I’m still trying to figure out. Which is difficult for me as I always feel like I’m a step behind.

Still, that hasn’t stopped me from shipping Maddox and Ashlyn from High School Musical the Musical the Series. I’m not sure why I started watching the show but it tickles a part of my brain. It’s almost like a guilty pleasure.

And I’ve had many over the years.

After all, why DID I watch all the seasons of Pretty Little Liars and even Ravenswood spin-off? I watched all the seasons of Once upon a Time, too! And Glee!

Gah, why am I exposing myself like this? Forget those last few paragraphs! Strike it from your memory!

The point of this post, and my dating adventures, is that finding love is hard. And while I wish I could know deep in my bones if I like-like someone, I’m the type that will somehow convince myself it was all in my head and switch such feelings off.

Or, perhaps, by the time the year is done, I’ll have fallen head over heels in love with someone and be singing a different tune.

Upholding the Masquerade

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

From having a vampire (correction dhampyr) as a team member in my superhero line-up, it was clear that the next game I played would need to feature a vampire. This it did in spades. Enter: Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong, where I would play as three different vampires in the Boston Camarilla court over the course of three nights following a Code Red incident. Thrust into the shoes of Emem, Leysha and Galeb, I would need to figure out the events of the incident AND put a stop to the machinations of those that would put the Camarilla in danger.

Unlike the other Vampire: The Masquerade games that I have played before (just putting it out there that I’ve never played the cult classic Bloodlines that released in the early 2000s although I am tepidly excited for Bloodlines II), which were dialogue-heavy visual novel-esque games, Swansong was much more action heavy with 3D character models and fully realised locations that the game plays out in.

Additionally, it helped introduce me to much more of the World of Darkness mechanics that were absent in the other games I played. In Swansong, I was greeted by character sheets and having to select certain abilities and skills to level-up after each chapter. These included, but were not limited to, dialogue options, environmental skills and vampiric abilities such as dominate and presence.

Another change from the New York games was that all of the characters had been vampires for a significant number of decades, if not centuries. These were not recently embraced fledglings, unsure of their place in the world of vampires, oh no. These were vampires that had made their mark on the world of the Camarilla and were familiar with the ins and outs of court machinations.

But getting back to the game mechanics, Swansong even included in-game dice rolls to see if certain dialogue options succeeded or not based on a percentage. This meant that I could save-scum certain dialogue choices with the hope of a success.

Yet, even if a dialogue option were to fail, Emem, Leysha and Galeb could still level up their traits, which would allow for a more favourable result in the future.

Beyond dialogue, characters could also pick locks and hack into computers and telephones. To do so, they would need to expend willpower. Often, though, I found it easier to look for a key or a code to unlock something that I wanted to gain access to rather than expend willpower as it was the only real resource that I struggled to manage as items that could replenish it were not as plentiful as I would hope and it was always easy to accidentally waste precious willpower on frivolous conversations that provided no additional information of use.

The other skills they had were deduction and education While they didn’t offer much in practical use, I enjoyed certain dialogue options that cropped up that occasionally helped guide me to what would be the appropriate response in a given situation. That and the fact that certain ‘education’ checks were better able to flesh out the world that I found myself thrust into.

Gameplay aside, the story of Swansong was an intriguing romp through Boston as each of the three characters completed their missions for the Prince. As they pieced together the events of the Code Red incident, they stumbled upon members of the Second Inquisition that were attempting to eradicate, as well as eliminate, all supernatural threats.

This culminated in a series of missions that had Emem looking for allies among the Anarchs (a rival faction to the Camarilla) before infiltrating the base of the Second Inquisition to wipe out any and all information about the existence of vampires, to Leysha trying to rescue her daughter, and Galeb on the hunt for the leader of the Second Inquisition.

All of it was quite fascinating and there were many hard choices that I had to make – especially when it came to Emem seeking the aid of the Anarchs to help her. In all honesty, I probably shouldn’t have followed through with the Prince’s plan but I wanted to keep Emem safe, especially after her encounter with the Hartford Chantry made me very protective of the Clan Toreador vampire.

But while I would have preferred playing through the game blind, I often found myself stymied by poor game design choices such as a lack of guidance. True, not all games need a minimap or a HUD indicator telling one where they need to go but the fact that the default movement speed was a leisurely saunter had me fuming. It was only when I was in Chapter 4 and struggling to get past slowed down gates that I learned that the ability to ‘run’ was a toggle feature that activated when pressing CIRCLE of all things.

Also, the volume was initially so low on my TV that I was forced to head into settings and change it.

Without a guide, I doubt I would have been able to have enjoyed my time with Swansong as much as I would have liked. And yet, by using a guide, I removed some of the wonder and splendour that would have come from a blind playthrough. The fact that one needed specific abilities in order to advance only served to mire my enjoyment of the game – as well as learning that if you released the werewolf, poor Leysha had a chance of being killed before she could save her daughter, Halsey.

Despite my misgivings with several aspects of the game, Swansong was a nice dip once again into the World of Darkness, serving to whet my appetite for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II, which, surprisingly enough is now being developed by The Chinese Room with a possibility of release in 2024.

It is still concerning that the game has had such troubled development but here’s hoping that it will turn out good and I can dive right into the complex world of intrigue, blood and vampires.

And even though I was always Team Jacob (granted, I never actually read anything past New Moon), I have to say I’m glad that VAMPIRES ARE BACK, BABY!