Tyler F.M. Edwards's Blog, page 18

Book Reviews: Night Vale, It Devours and Black Company, Port of Shadows

I’ve got a pair of book reviews for you today. First up…

Welcome to Night Vale: It Devours

[image error]I won’t lie: As much as I love Night Vale, I found this book pretty disappointing.

It Devours follows one of Carlos’ scientists, Nilanjana Sikdar, as she investigates strange occurrences that may be connected to the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. This investigation is complicated by a budding attraction between Nilanjana and Darryl Ramirez, one of of the Congregation’s most devout members.

Seems like it could be an interesting story, but… well, it really isn’t. The writers are clearly trying to make a point about the dangers of blind faith, which is admirable, but it’s extremely ham-fisted and unsubtle. It’s not so much a story with a message as it is a message with a story half-heartedly built around it.

It doesn’t help that the main characters are fairly weak. I don’t find Nilanjana or Darryl to be especially likable or interesting characters individually, and worse still their budding romance feels completely forced. The two characters have nothing in common and no chemistry whatsoever, and I was never really clear on why they even liked each other.

The book isn’t a complete waste. It is written with that trademark Night Vale wit and charm, and many of the background characters are memorable. I particularly enjoyed Nilanjana’s coworker who devoted her entire career to disapproving of potatoes.

Carlos also gets a fairly meaty supporting role, and we learn a lot about what makes him tick. I read in the YouTube comments recently there’s a section of the fanbase that has the head canon Carlos is on the autism spectrum, and having read It Devours, I can definitely see why.

Still, despite highlights like that, this is a book I’d have trouble recommending, even to serious fans of the podcast.

Overall rating: 5.9/10

The Black Company, Port of Shadows:

[image error]Man, who the hell expected a new Black Company book after all this time?

What makes it even weirder is that this isn’t a continuation of the story. It’s an interquel, dubbed “book 1.5”.

That kind of has “unnecessary money grab” written all over it, so I didn’t exactly expect much from Port of Shadows. But it ended up impressing me as much as It Devours disappointed.

Following the battle at Charm, the Black Company has been given a cushy garrison assignment at the city of Aloe. An investigation into a young woman with a mysterious connection to the Lady threatens to disrupt their peace, and the arrival of a new Taken throws Croaker’s life into disarray.

Of course, it is a bit of an awkward fit into existing continuity, though attempts are made to explain the inconsistency. It’s not perfect, but at the end of the day I believe continuity should serve the story rather than the other way around, so I can let it slide.

Reading this, I reflected on how strange it is that I enjoy the Black Company books as much as I do. In theory they’re everything I profess to hate in the fantasy genre. They’re ugly, bleak, cynical books in a low magic setting with no heroes worth rooting for.

I can only say what I’ve always said: I love the way they’re written. The prose is steeped in dry wit and gallows humour, and it makes what would otherwise be an appallingly unpleasant story into a delightful page-turner.

Though I must admit I do worry what it says about me that I just used the word “delightful” to describe a book that features the phrase “consensual necrophilia” as a major plot point.

Anyway, as with the series as a whole, I struggle to explain precisely what it is I enjoyed so much about Port of Shadows, beyond the clever prose. I suppose there is a good mystery here; wanting to uncover what’s really happening is definitely part of what makes it such a page-turner.

I’ll also say that it feels a bit like the later Black Company books in that it presents a softer side of the Company (I use the term loosely) and shows them as being… well, if not the good guys, then at least the lesser of two evils relative to the forces they’re opposing. It does make the whole thing a bit more palatable compared to those times when the Company is just the bad guys.

Going in, I was afraid Port of Shadows was an unnecessary addition to a completed series, and arguably it is, but I wound up enjoying it thoroughly despite that.

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Song of the Month: Metric, Too Little Too Late

I really struggled to pick a song for this month. There aren’t new releases that are really rocking my world, and just nothing was really jumping out at me.

But it occurred to me I haven’t posted a Metric song for a while, and that seemed like a problem that should be rectified.

So here, have one of my all time favourite Metric songs.

Still Alive

I apologize for not posting more often the last few weeks (I seem to say that a lot lately). I’ve been struggling a lot with motivation these days.

[image error]Partly it’s that my new D&D writing gig has taken a lot out of me. It’s probably a bigger workload than I’ve ever dealt with in my life up to this point. Given my disability, that’s not saying as much as it might, but still. I’ve had very little energy left for any other forms of writing, and most of what is left over goes to maintaining my column at Massively Overpowered.

The other factor is of course the pandemic.

On the one hand this hasn’t really changed that much for me. I already work from home and don’t go out that much. Really everyone else has now been forced to live their lives how I’ve lived most of my life.

But then of course that was something I wanted to change. I’ve been working very hard the last few years to go out, experience new things, and form social connections outside of the virtual realm, and now thanks to the plague all those doors are closed to me, and I’m back where I started, at least for the time being. It’s demoralizing.

The monotony of every day being the same is starting to get to me, and that is also really killing my motivation for a lot of things, including blogging.

But I don’t want my blog to die altogether, so let’s try to throw together an update.

[image error]My D&D group is still going, albeit online. We’re using Roll20. It’s bad. I won’t sugar-coat it. Roll20 is bad. Like I want to respect it for having so many features, and we are managing games with it, but it’s so clunky and buggy.

Wanting something comforting and unchallenging, I’ve been binge rewatching Star Trek: Voyager lately. I’m not watching every episode; just the ones that jump out at me, which is roughly half of them, I’d say.

I’ll stand by what I’ve said in the past: It’s not great, but it’s not half as bad as people make it out to be. I think the worst criticism you could make of it is that it could have been so much better. It’s a show rife with missed opportunities, underdeveloped characters, and failures to live up to the potential of its premise, but if you just take it for what it is, it’s decent.

Season two was probably the best. At that point they’d gotten over the opening jitters but hadn’t yet completely betrayed the premise of being lost and struggling for survival in a harsh frontier. After that it was slowly downhill. The show lost a lot of heart when Kes left.

As far as video games, my favourite new discovery in recent months — as you might have seen from my MOP column — is Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem.

[image error]Much to my own surprise I’ve continued playing for quite a while after finishing the storyline, just grinding dungeons. I love the combat and the build system so much. The nigh-limitless build options really remind me of old school TSW, and I’m having so much fun theorycrafting. I’ve started a new character, a necromancer based on elemental damage, and I love it. I just sit back freezing enemies and setting them on fire while my zombies distract them.

I also finally got around to finally playing Nier: Automata. It’s one of those games that I liked, but I don’t get what the fuss was about. It’s more good than bad, but nothing about it strikes me as exceptionally memorable.

My biggest complaint was the side quests. I think Nier: Automata wins the award for the absolute worst side quests I’ve ever seen in a video game. None have interesting or memorable stories, most involve long tedious travel times, and many throw you against enemies that vastly out-level you, leading to crushingly long and boring fights.

I will say that I only played through it once, and I do understand that the story changes on subsequent playthroughs, so I may not be getting the full Nier: Automata experience. I’m still considering doing the extra playthroughs at some point — a friend assures me I won’t have to repeat the side quests, which makes the idea a bit more appealing — but I was pretty happy with the original ending, and I somewhat resent needing multiple playthroughs to see the whole story, so we’ll see.

In Star Trek Online, I’ve now finished the Iconian War arc, and I’m thinking I may take a break there, as it seems like a good place to pause at, and I’m starting to feel some burnout. Mostly I was happy with how the Iconian plot wrapped up. The ending nailed that morality play feel good Star Trek should have.

[image error]Finally, I’ve just started on We Happy Few. It’s a game I’ve been wanting for ages, but I wanted to wait for a sale in case I didn’t end up enjoying it (gods, I miss demos). I’m only a few hours in, so I’m still making up my mind.

So far I love the story, the world-building, the artwork, and the music. The downside is it is very stealth-heavy, and I’m terrible at stealth games. I had to start the game over on a lower difficulty because I was struggling too much. Thankfully I wasn’t that far in, so I haven’t had to repeat much, and so far the lower difficulty seems to be working out better.

So that’s the basics on where I’m at. Let’s hope we’re all out of this virus nightmare sooner rather than later.

Star Trek: Picard’s First Season Is a Rough but Worthwhile Journey

I’ve had very mixed feelings on Star Trek: Picard’s first season, which wrapped up last night (spoilers ahead).

[image error]Certainly, there’s a lot to like about it. Aesthetically, it’s masterful. The special effects, cinematography, art design, and soundtrack are second to none. The acting is also excellent throughout, and most of the characters are excellent.

Patrick Stewart’s Picard is of course flawless as ever. That goes without saying. I also deeply enjoyed the guest appearances by Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. Jeri Ryan is a great actress, but Voyager’s writers never did her justice. Seven mostly just felt like a cheap Data knock-off with added fan service in the form of a ridiculous skin-tight catsuit.

Picard finally gives Seven of Nine the development she deserves (and reasonable clothes). She’s probably more fleshed out in a few episodes of this show than she was in all of Voyager, and it’s just a delight. I’m quite happy with the not-so-subtle implication that she will be promoted to main cast next season.

Many of the new characters impress, as well. My favourite by the end of the season was probably Romulan warrior-monk Elnor, who is as sensitive as he is deadly.

Can I just say how utterly I love the Qowat Milat? In my head canon, they are the “true” Romulans. I think their philosophy is the original Romulan culture that existed from the Time of the Awakening, when they were Vulcans marching Under the Raptor’s Wings. The Qowat Milat’s philosophy is the exact counterpoint to Surak’s teachings. Instead of repressing their emotions, they express them all, without reservation or hesitation. Instead of cold pragmatism, they live to fight for only the most hopeless of causes.

I love this because it makes the Romulans so much more than just the evil cousins of Vulcans. Clearly their culture was corrupted somewhere along the line, but the Qowat Milat shows it was built on something beautiful and unique.

[image error]In fact, the finale was so good it makes me wonder if we really need a second season. This is such a satisfying ending it could just as easily work as the conclusion to the series. Of course, presumably the Reapers are still out there (because Star Trek turned into Mass Effect somewhere along the line), so the potential for more is there, but I’m not sure the need is there.

All in all, it was a very imperfect season, but it does eventually pay off.

Song of the Month: Grimes, You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around

I’ve been very busy lately, so it took me longer than I would have liked to check out Grimes’ new album, Miss Anthropocene. Grimes’ music is hit and miss for me, but whatever else she might be, she’s never boring, so a new album from her seemed worth my attention.

To my pleasant surprise, Miss Anthropocene turned out to be a pretty strong album, with a number of songs I’m enjoying. However, for me the clear winner of the bunch is You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around.

This song falls into my favourite musical niche: light, pleasant-sounding pop songs with extremely dark and morbid lyrics.

Updates: A New Gig, Stargate, Three Worlds, and More

I’m sorry for not posting more lately. I’ve been very busy. There are a lot of things going on at the moment I would have in the past done deep dive posts on, but I don’t have the time or energy these days. I didn’t want to leave this blog to rot, though, so I’ll do a quick rundown of all that’s new.

[image error]Firstly, part of the reason I’m so busy is that I’ve picked up another new writing gig. I’m not sure how much I’m contractually allowed to say in public right now, but I can say that it’s writing Dungeons and Dragons adventures. It’s not for Wizards of the Coast; it’s a third party producing adventures under the Open Gaming License. It’s a fairly well-established company, though. I already knew them before I even applied for the job.

It’s also not clear to me if this is a short-term thing or something that will be ongoing for the foreseeable future. I think it depends on how happy they are with my work.

Professional game design is something I’ve always wanted to do, so I’m glad to have the opportunity, but the workload is more than I’m used to, so it’s taking a lot out of me. Someone without my disabilities would probably be fine, but for me it’s taking a lot of energy. To their credit, my new employers have been pretty patient and even made accommodations to work with my unpredictable schedule.

This has delayed work on my own tabletop game, Wyrd Street. I’m unsure if I’ve mentioned it on this blog before, but I do plan to talk about it at some point. For now the short version for those who haven’t already been told about it is that it’s a D20-based RPG about ordinary heroes in a fantastical world. It draws a lot of inspiration from the earlier sections of Dragon Age II.

The idea at the heart of it is that anyone can be the hero, no matter what the rest of the world thinks of you or what struggles you might have in your life. You might not be a hero of legend, but you can be a hero to the people who depend on you. You might not save the world, but you can still save someone’s world.

That’s on the backburner while I focus on the new job, but I hope to get back to it at some point. Early play-tests were going well. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. Several people have said they enjoy combat in Wyrd Street more than in 5E.

[image error]On the video game front, those who follow my column on Massively Overpowered may have noticed I got sucked into Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem. I just finished the campaign, and I definitely want to play more, but I also have a lot of other stuff in my backlog I want to get to, and while I think Wolcen’s polish issues have been exaggerated, waiting for a few more patches to smooth out some of the rougher edges doesn’t seem like the worst idea. We’ll see how I feel; the combat and the build system in that game are just so addictive.

I did finally break down and pick up Nier: Automata on a Steam flash sale recently, so I hope to get to that soon, as well. Still a lot left to do in Star Trek Online, too.

Speaking of sci-fi, now that I finally have a library card, I discovered they have the entire series of Stargate: SG-1 on DVD, so I’ve been binge watching through that.

Despite the fact I’ve seen every episode of Atlantis and Universe, I’d only seen bits and pieces of SG-1 prior to now. I got interested in it pretty late in the game, and it was never on TV at times that were convenient to me. Then I didn’t have a TV. DVDs are too expensive, and there’s never been a convenient way to stream it.

But now I’m finally getting to watch it all in order. I just started on season four, and the show finally seems to be find its footing.

I won’t lie; if I didn’t know for a fact the series gets better, I might have given up on SG-1 in the first few seasons. It’s not that it’s terrible or anything, but it’s not enormously compelling either, and some aspects of it really haven’t aged well. It does feel like it’s starting to find more of a voice now, though, and I know the best is yet to come.

I’m also binging Welcome to Night Vale pretty hard right now. I got tickets to a live show in my area for later this month, and while I know it isn’t strictly necessary, I want to be fully caught up before I go. I’ve “only” got about twenty episodes left now, though I also want to listen to the recordings of all the previous live shows, and I haven’t touched those yet.

[image error]I also finally tried one of the other shows by that company, Alice Isn’t Dead. Only listened to a few episodes so far, but my first impression is it’s really damn good. A bit Secret World-esque, and I adore Jasika Nicole’s voice. Wish I could get her to narrate my life.

Finally, when it comes to books, I just got done reading a collection of short fiction set in Ian Irvine’s Three Worlds setting, A Wizard’s War and Other Stories. It was fine and all, but I definitely expected more. None of the stories really jumped out as being super memorable. Don’t regret reading it, but it’s definitely not essential, even if you’re a serious Three Worlds fan.

Warcraft III: Reforged Thoughts

Over the last few weeks, I’ve played through the full campaign of Warcraft III: Reforged (minus the Rexxar campaign, because bleh). It was an interesting experience, but it does leave me with some mixed feelings.

[image error]Of course, Reforged has been met with some really harsh criticism, but I think that says more about how hysterical the gaming community has gotten than it does about the game itself. It is so, so exhausting how every single game is the worst, most broken thing ever now according to the commentariat. No wonder so many developers have trouble taking our feedback seriously.

That’s not to say it’s not a game with some issues. It’s just that they’ve been blown so wildly out of proportion. It’s super frustrating because there are valid complaints to be made, but at this point it’s hard to make them without feeling like I’m adding my voice to the screeching mob of embittered gamers who just hate everything.

As it is, I will say that I feel they could have done a bit more to modernize the mechanics. In particular the limited unit selection feels really bad to go back to after being able to control my whole army at once in StarCraft II. The pathfinding could be better, too.

Also, while the improvements to the cinematics and unit models are stellar, the terrain is a bit more hit and miss. With the exception of a few tilesets (like Ashenvale and the Broken Isles), it feels like the terrain wasn’t updated as much as the units, and the contrast between the two can be a bit jarring.

Would be really nice if the custom game AI had been improved, too. It’s very one-dimensional in its strategies right now, so if you don’t PvP there’s pretty much nothing to do once you finish the campaign.

[image error]In general, the game doesn’t hold up as much as I’d like. I mean, it actually holds up really damn well for a game of its age, but in its day it was a masterpiece, and now it’s just good. Not enough tweaking was done to bring it up to today’s standards.

It doesn’t help that this is following on the heels of the Age of Empires II remaster, which was damn near perfect. It hit exactly the right balance of modernizing the mechanics without altering the soul of the game, and it set a very high bar for other remasters to live up to.

On the other hand, it could have been a lot worse. Let us all give thanks that they backed off from their original plans to rewrite the story. That would have been horrible.

On the subject of the story, again it is starting to show its age. It is still a good story, but it doesn’t feel like the earth-shattering masterpiece it did back in the day. There’s not really anything wrong with the story that’s there, but it just feels a bit thin by modern standards. StarCraft II’s massive, sprawling campaign full of between mission dialogue has spoiled me. Warcraft III’s campaign feels rather thin by comparison.

Again, it’s still good, and if you’ve never played it, I still recommend it. It’s just not as mind-blowing as I remember it being when I was a kid.

It was interesting and a bit sad to compare how much things have changed in World of Warcraft. Now, WoW has done a lot of great things with its story, and don’t let me send the impression I’m saying WoW is bad or ruined everything, but there are a lot of specific things it has screwed up. It was very refreshing to go back to a time when Night Elves were scary, Jaina was badass, and Kael’thas was actually a three-dimensional character.

[image error]I’m glad I revisited it, and there’s still a lot to love about the game, but it did leave me with a certain “you can’t go home again” kind of feeling.

Song of the Month: Monowhales, RWLYD (Really Wanna Let You Down)

I’ve been wanting to feature this one as a Song of the Month for a while, but other songs kept popping up to demand my attention.

I’ve been keeping a casual eye on local power pop band Monowhales for a while now. They’ve got the sort of sound I tend to like, but they never quite grabbed me. But they’re pretty new, so I’ve held onto the hope that they might mature into something special.

It’s just one song, but based on Really Wanna Let You Down (somewhat obnoxiously abbreviated as RWLYD), my patience with them may be paying off. This one’s a banger.

Review: The Stormlight Archive, Book Three: Oathbringer

The friend who was lending me Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive books switched to ebooks, but thanks to my local library, I’ve pressed ahead with the series.

[image error]The previous two books in this series suffered from painfully slow pacing, but made up for it with spectacular endings. Oathbringer breaks that pattern, which is both a blessing and a curse.

The upshot is the pacing is a lot more even throughout. The pace is still a little on the slower side, but not unpleasantly so, and he doesn’t seem to spend so much time getting bogged down in irrelevant details. Things move forward at a slow but steady pace, and Oathbringer is a lot more approachable and readable than its predecessors.

The only place it does drag a bit is Dalinar’s story. His story in the present day isn’t exactly thrilling, but what’s really tedious is the flashbacks that are peppered throughout the book. They keep teasing a big reveal but it takes so… long… to get to it. I actually skipped ahead — something I never do when reading — and read all the flashbacks up to the reveal in one go because I was tired of being strung along.

That doesn’t do much to make the book as a whole less enjoyable. It’s still a great read… right up until the end.

The previous two Stormlight books have justified themselves with intense, kickass endings full of exciting action and big reveals. Oathbringer tries to double down on that, but there can be too much of a good thing.

The ending to Oathbringer tries so hard to be an epic, fantastical thrill ride that it crosses over into the realm of the ridiculous. And this is coming from a Warcraft fan, so that has to say something. I accepted Richard A. Knaak and Rhonin’s psychic dinosaur army (albeit grudgingly), and even I think this is too much.

We’re only three books in, and already the power levels of the heroes have gotten so absurdly high that it’s nigh-impossible to inject any drama into the story. The Radiants are all invincible gods at this point. The middle of a good fantasy epic should leave you struggling to imagine how the heroes could possibly triumph, but at this point I struggle to imagine how they could possibly fail.

I’ve heard it said that Brandon Sanderson is planning this to be a ten book series, but I don’t know how he’s going to pull it off. He’s already answered almost all the big questions, and already the power levels of heroes and villains alike are so high it threatens to break the story. How in the world is he going to wring another seven books out of this? To me it feels like there’s one book worth of story left at most.

Based on this series, Sanderson is great at world-building and creating memorable characters, but he really needs to work on his plotting.

Overall rating: 6.9/10

Star Trek Musings: Picard’s Premiere, Discovery Season Two, and STO

Despite years of feeling like my Trek fandom has been left behind, I find myself quite steeped in Star Trek lately. There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s get to it.

Picard:

[image error]Let’s start with what everyone is talking about: Picard.

As someone who grew up with TNG, it’s hard to remember the last time any piece of media felt as much like an event as this does. I’ve been filled with enormous hope, but also great worry that they’ll screw it up. Truthfully, I just didn’t know what to expect.

The first episode hasn’t done a whole lot to clarify my feelings, honestly.

There is a lot to love. There absolutely is. It goes without saying that Patrick Stewart is absolutely flawless. He always has been, and even if everything else was bad, the show could possibly be worth it for him alone.

Thankfully, he’s not the only thing Picard has going for it.

For one thing, this is quite possibly the most beautiful, aesthetically masterful piece of television I’ve ever seen. Picard has the sumptuous production values of Discovery, but rather than being flashy and extravagant, it feels lived in and homey. Every shot feels like a work of art, and the soundtrack is stunningly beautiful.

Picard is amazingly rooted in what’s come before. As a fan of Nemesis, I feared it might be somewhat swept under the rug, being an unpopular film, but Picard is almost entirely a direct sequel to it. Even beyond that, this series is a love-letter to the fans through and through. Subtle callbacks and easter eggs abound, but even the major plot points are the sort of things that you need to have watched a lot of Star Trek to understand.

[image error]This could be a double-edged sword. Right now I’d rate the appeal of Picard for anyone who’s not a hardcore Trekkie to be pretty much zero. But on the other hand, it’s wonderful from the perspective of someone who does know and love that source material.

One small thing that maybe shouldn’t matter but which I really appreciated is that every single alien we’ve seen so far, even extras, are from pre-established species. Romulan, Tellarite, Xahean. It makes the Trek universe feel more like a real place, something Picard is already doing an excellent job across the board.

It’s not all good news, though. I do still see some cause for concern.

The first half or so of Picard’s premiere is pretty much perfect, but after that things start to slip a bit. It slides a bit more towards the kind of cheap shocks and sensationalism that have dogged Discovery. It’s nowhere near as bad as Discovery yet, but it does leave me worried.

Ultimately, this is a show that’s clearly playing the long game with its story. You can’t really rate the first episode individually. It’s just the first part of a much bigger picture. Future developments could justify what seem like missteps now… or just make them worse.

All things considered, Picard’s first episode does an admirable job of living up to the mountainous expectations placed on it, but my worries are not entirely erased. There’s still lots of room for this to go badly wrong, and modern Star Trek doesn’t have a great track record for quality.

[image error]Speaking of modern Star Trek…

Discovery: Season two

I pretty much gave up on Discovery after what I will generously call a rough first season. However, I heard from enough people that season two was better that I eventually caved and decided to give it another shot. I finished up just in time for Picard to start.

In some ways, season two of Discovery is a lot like the first. But in other ways — in just enough ways — it’s quite different.

The main thing that Discovery’s second season shares with the first is that they are both — to put it bluntly — really, really stupid. Season two’s meta plot is crushingly convoluted and riddled with enormous plot holes, and it completely falls apart under any kind of inspection.

Season one was dumb, too, and worse still it wasn’t even an enjoyable story. It was a dull, lifeless slog full of cheap shock value and terrible, occasionally offensive story choices.

At times, season two slips back into that. The most egregious example is what they’ve done with the character of Saru. Once a highlight of the show, season two manages to nullify pretty much everything that made him compelling as a character.

[image error]Saru was introduced as a member of a prey species who live in constant, instinctual fear. It was a really unique concept for an alien race, and as someone who suffers from chronic anxiety, I identified with Saru in a way I rarely can with fictional characters.

Season two reveals that Saru’s species are not the prey but in fact apex predators once they reach a certain age. Firstly, this completely sabotages what made his race different. Now they’re just Klingons with better manners.

Secondly, the idea that chronic anxiety is something you can just grow out of is breathtakingly tone-deaf and downright offensive. It’s akin to writing a story where a gay person realizes they were straight all along once they meet the “right” person. It’s awful.

However, offensive stupid like that is thankfully the exception in Discovery’s second season. The whole arc is dumb, but most of the time it’s fun dumb. There are worse sins for a story to commit than to be dumb. Discovery’s first season was stupid and boring. Its second season is stupid and entertaining.

As always, Discovery knocks it out of the park visually, with state of the art special effects, spectacular art design, and lots of battle scenes filled with eye candy.

But what really makes the second season work where the first didn’t is that it has heart. There are many moments where the characters risk life and limb to do the right thing, with no real motivation beyond the fact that it is the right thing. That’s what Star Trek is all about, and though Discovery gets so much else wrong, that’s the one thing it really needs to get right. The first season didn’t, but the second does.

[image error]As of now, I would consider myself converted to Discovery. It’s still a long, long way from my favourite Trek series, and there’s still a lot wrong with it, but it does now feel at least worth my time, with occasional flashes of true greatness.

STO update

And while I’m rambling about Star Trek, I might as well give an update on my continued adventures in Star Trek Online (beyond what was already said in my recent column).

I continue to mostly enjoy my time there, somewhat to my own surprise. I’ve said before it’s a very rough game, and it’s not getting any less rough the farther into it I get.

I played through the starter stories for both other major factions — oddly, the Starfleet content is shockingly brief, and Klingons don’t fare much better — and returned to playing my Rommie full time. She’s now at level cap and delving into the faction-agnostic story arcs.

Turns out this game has a pretty sharp difficulty spike at max level. I’ve gone from waltzing over enemies to struggling to stay alive on nearly every fight. This might bother me more, except there doesn’t seem to be an real death penalty in this game (as it should be, IMO). That makes the difficulty less frustrating and more a problem to be solved.

I am hoping to upgrade my gear some. To my dismay, the main source of endgame progression in STO seems to be reputation grinds, which I consider the very lowest form of MMO content, but on the plus side the lower tiers of reputation aren’t too hard to unlock. It could be far worse.

[image error]I’m also still playing my Starfleet character, an Andorian science officer, here and there. I switch over to her for story arcs that feel more appropriate for a Starfleet officer, like helping out the Bajorans. One thing that’s really nice about STO is that you can play through the missions in any order, and everything has level-scaling, so I can hop between the two characters at will without repeating any story or worrying about falling behind. This is an extremely alt-friendly game.

I still half expect myself to drop this game at any moment, but for now it’s still keeping my attention, if only because I’ve got Trek on the brain these days.

On top of everything else, one of my friends is now forming plans for a Star Trek tabletop RPG one-shot…