Tyler F.M. Edwards's Blog, page 22

Song of the Month: Aurora, The River

Aurora has now released the second half of what was apparently a two-part album, following up last year’s Infections of a Different Kind (Step I) with A Different Kind of Human (Step II). It’s a solid album with a number of good songs, but my favourite is easily The River, which can stand with the best tracks off her first album.

I’m trying to make a conscious effort to listen to more Aurora lately. Not just because I like her music, but because she tends to sing a lot on the themes of positivity and self-acceptance. While I would never want to give up my sad songs, it does occur to me I should probably listen to more than just Thrash Unreal and No Lights on the Horizon if I want to think more positively.

The River is an especially good one for that. I have to be honest; my mental health has taken a real downturn lately. I’m grateful for my job with Massively OP, but so much else seems to be going wrong. It takes me to really dark places. The River helps remind me that it’s okay to hurt and that I’m not a monster for struggling.

Lucifer Season Four Is a Major Improvement

I was saddened when Lucifer was cancelled, and heartened when Netflix picked it up for a fourth season. Not just because I’m a fan of the show, but because it deserved a better send-off than season three.

[image error]The last season may have ended on a high note, but boy did it drag in the middle. Petty interpersonal drama and repetitive storylines sucked almost all of the fun out of a show that was always dumb but rarely dull.

So when season four came to Netflix, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I hoped it would improve things, but I was concerned to see the tired writing of season three continue.

I am pleased to report, however, that season four is not just a massive improvement over its predecessor but easily the strongest season of Lucifer to date.

I’m not entirely without complaints. There are some stumbles. Maze going full evil last season is basically just ignored (though maybe that’s for the best), and the ending is a bit of an anticlimax in some ways. The season’s antagonist definitely deserved more of a comeuppance.

But there’s so much to love here. You can tell that lacking the oversight of a mainstream network freed the writers up to be much more creative. Like iZombie, they’re now unafraid to de-emphasize the case of the week, or shake up its formula. It’s still a bit repetitive, but things are not quite so painfully predictable this time around, and the meta-plot is given much more attention.

Season four deals with the aftermath of Chloe discovering that Lucifer has been telling the truth all this time, that he truly is the Devil. As he deals with that, he is reunited with a figure from his past: Eve, the first sinner.

[image error]This could have been another tedious love triangle, and there is some element of that, but mostly this serves as a fascinating of exploration of who Lucifer truly is: an angel, or a demon?

The growth and character development that was so lacking last season is in full force here. Both Lucifer and Chloe evolve a lot over the course of the season, and it makes for a very satisfying arc.

Speaking of Chloe, amazingly she has suddenly metamorphisized into an interesting character. Even Lauren German’s acting seems far better. I don’t know what happened, but I kind of feel bad for all the smack I’ve talked about her in the past. Chloe still isn’t my favourite character on Lucifer, but she does now feel like a real, three-dimensional person who is an asset to the cast.

I was also impressed by how much Amenadiel has evolved. He’s finally worked that stick out of his ass, and he’s become a very likable character.

Linda’s about the same as ever, but she was always perfect just the way she is. Dan and Ella’s stories this season both have potential, but neither of them really gets enough attention or delivers a satisfying pay-off. Ella’s still adorable, though.

All in all, it’s a kickass season.

The good news keeps rolling as Lucifer has already been renewed for a fifth season. This will be the final season, but I think this is about the right time to end it. As I was watching the finale of season four, I was thinking to myself, “This feels like there’s room for about one more season before the story starts getting stale.”

I look forward to it.

Review: Dungeons III

The one big success story to come out of my recent flirtation with Origin Access is Dungeons III. I liked it enough I managed to play through the entire campaign (though not the DLC) before my Access subscription ran out.

[image error]I hadn’t played the first two, but the story isn’t exactly deep, and I didn’t find my lack of experience with the franchise made things any less enjoyable.

Dungeons III is a mix of real time strategy, simulation, and city-building. You play as the Ultimate Evil, a cartoonish Sauron-type figure. You construct dungeons, defend them against incursions by parties of heroes, and raise armies to bring ruin to the surface world.

While underground, the game plays a city-builder. You have less direct control over your troops, and the focus is on building rooms and traps and managing the big picture. When you send troops to the surface, the game turns into an RTS, with more direct control.

The difference in control schemes between the two set-ups is occasionally jarring, especially as you’ll spend a lot of time going back and forth between them, but mostly I would say the variety of the two modes is a strength of the game.

The other great strength of Dungeons III, I’d say, is that it’s a very relaxing experience that you rarely have to work too hard at. The pace is slow, and you can take your time building the evil empire of your dreams.

[image error]The tone of the game and its story is quite silly, too. At no point does it even approach taking itself seriously, and it breaks the fourth wall about once every fifteen seconds.

The story is mainly built around Thalya, an Elven priestess of the light whom the Ultimate Evil corrupts into a champion of evilness. So, you know. Sassy Elf girl. I’m sold.

On your journey to confront and defeat Thalya’s paladin foster-father, you cut a swath through his allies and his kingdom, including locations such as “Dollaran,” “Twistram,” and “Stormbreeze.”

Nudge nudge, wink wink.

The Blizzard-like feel is further enhanced by the bright, stylized graphics, whose vivid colours and exaggerated proportions make even the darkest pits of your dungeon seem inviting. It may not be pushing the technological envelope, but it’s still a very nice game to look at.

My health has been bad lately, and Dungeons was exactly the low stress gaming I needed while I was coughing and wheezing. No “srs bznz” here. This is a game that was just built to be fun.

[image error]That said, it is of course not perfect. It does get very repetitive after a while. They make some effort to throw different mission types at you, but you’re still going to be doing mostly the same stuff every level. I think it would have helped if they gave you more established dungeons to start with later in the game, but you pretty much start from scratch every time.

The pacing of each match could also be balanced better. The rate at which you gain resources is heavily throttled, so no matter how well you play it takes a long time to get established, and this can make the early game a bit of a rough ride sometimes.

Conversely, once your economy finds its footing and you start laying down traps and mustering your army, things start to snowball very fast.

I’d have liked to have seen the early game be a bit easier, and the late game be a little more challenging. I’m mostly okay with your dungeon being unassailable past a certain point, but it’s too easy to run roughshod over the surface once you have your deathball up and running.

Still, it’s a game I’d recommend.

Overall rating: 7.4/10

Review: Draugen

Despite the near total lack of promotion or pre-launch info for the game, I’d been looking forward to Draugen for some time. A psychological horror game with Nordic themes by Ragnar Tornquist seemed the next best thing to a new Secret World game.

[image error]I think I may have over-hyped Draugen to myself a bit, but it still wound up being a solid game.

Set in 1923, Draugen is the story of Edward Charles Harden. Accompanied by his ward, Alice (AKA “Lissie”), he journeys to the remote Norwegian town of Graavik to search for his missing sister.

Upon arrival, Edward and Lissie find Graavik deserted, and as the days unfold they delve into the mystery of what befell the town as they search for Edward’s sister.

It is very much a walking simulator. There’s no combat, and the handful of challenges you do encounter are too simple to rightly be called puzzles.

Also, despite how I’d heard it promoted, I wouldn’t say this is a horror game. There are a handful of mildly scary sequences, and the story deals with some dark themes, but I don’t think it actually qualifies as horror. Indeed, most of the time the game is quite tranquil — relaxing, even.

[image error]It is, however, a mystery. You’ll spend most of your time uncovering clues, and the way the picture of what happened in Graavik slowly unfolds is very well done. It feels neither too slow nor too rushed, and it will definitely get you thinking as you try to put the pieces together.

However, if you want the sort of mystery where everything is wrapped up in a neat little package, you will be disappointed. The ending of Draugen is quite inconclusive, and it’s very much up to the player to decide for themselves what really happened in Graavik.

This is not a style of storytelling I’m especially fond of, but I felt it worked here for a couple reasons.

One is that it doesn’t feel cheap. Nothing is withheld from the player; you learn everything that characters in that situation reasonably could. They might not wrap everything up, but it’s not the sort of story that keeps everything vague and mysterious just for the sake of being “artistic.”

The other is that I choose to believe this is a TSW game.

[image error]Going in, I had already half-jokingly decided that I was going to treat Draugen as part of the Secret World setting, even if it’s not officially labeled as such, and while nothing in the game disproves that notion, there’s not an enormous amount of evidence to support the idea, either. The closest you get is a piece of dialogue near the end that echoes a mission from TSW so well I question whether it can be a coincidence.

But I do grant even that is far from conclusive.

However, if I press forward with my idea that this is a TSW game, it works wonders to fill in all the blanks of the story. It’s hard to say more without spoilers, but connecting Draugen to TSW is for me the perfect way to make the story make sense.

So Draugen didn’t blow me away — if I’m being honest, The Park is definitely the superior TSW-adjacent walking simulator — but it is a game I’d recommend. It’s interesting, and it’s well-done.

I wouldn’t say you need to know TSW to enjoy it, but I definitely think it helps.

If nothing else, it’s worth it just for the breathtaking graphics and soundtrack. This game is an absolute feast for the senses.

[image error]I really want to visit Norway now.

Overall rating: 7.4/10

Interestingly, it seems a sequel may be on the way at some point. The credits conclude with the message, “Edward and Alice will return.”

Hmm…

Gaming Round-Up: The Lightning Round

Been having trouble settling on a “main” game lately. I’ve run out of stuff to do in Anthem, and The Division 2 is more something I just pop into from time to time (plus I’m a little burnt out on shooters right now).

[image error]Instead, I’ve decided to try out a long list of games, rapid-fire style. Most of these were via Origin Access, which I subscribed to for a month just for the sake of testing out games, but a few were from my Steam backlog or other sources.

Demonicon

I really liked the world-building for this. It seemed like a very unique setting. However, everything about the game is just super janky, from the outdated graphics to the inexplicably wonky controls to the weirdly incest-focused storyline.

Fractured (alpha)

I got a key for this via my gig at Massively Overpowered. Honestly, I don’t why they dropped the NDA. Fractured is in such an early state it barely qualifies as a tech demo. You can run around, do some basic crafting, and kill wolves, and that’s it. At least the music was nice?

I’m not saying Fractured is a bad game. I’m saying it’s not a game at all yet.

Pillars of Eternity

I’ve been wondering for a while if my newfound love of table-top gaming would improve my view of CRPGs, which seek to replicate that experience in a video game environment.

[image error]No, it has not.

Mechanics that make sense in tabletop just don’t work as well in a video game, and Pillars of Eternity is especially egregious example of why I don’t like CRPGs. Combat pretty much plays itself, and victory or defeat is determined on the character sheet, not the battlefield. What’s the point of playing a video game with so little interactivity?

Some of the class concepts are pretty cool, but it isn’t enough to overcome how dull the actual gameplay is.

Also, wow, is the UI for Pillars of Eternity ever bad. Why are all my active abilities teensy weensy icons I can only access by hovering over a tiny widget in the corner of the screen?

Tyranny

Another CRPG, I found the gameplay of Tyranny far more palatable than PoE (though that’s a low bar). I actually got to press buttons sometimes, so there’s that. I also think the premise — being the servant of an evil dark lord — is interesting, but it doesn’t seem to do it justice.

I was hoping for something like the experience of playing a Light Side Imperial in SWTOR — struggling to balance your personal conscience with your loyalty to corrupt superiors. Instead, Tyranny seems content to pigeon-hole you into the roll of the villain no matter what. It’s not even a case of choosing the lesser evil; you’re just the bad guy.

[image error]I don’t think You Kick Puppies: The Game is a very compelling premise.

Beyond that, I also found myself exhausted by the information overload this game throws at you. The game mechanics are overwhelmingly complex, and every NPC has absolute reams of dialogue. I’d say it’s like reading a novel rather than playing a game, but novels have editors.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

This one was pretty fun. Force-lifting people off of ledges was good fun, and I felt like the force of destruction a Sith ought to be. I did find some of the controls a bit odd, and the way the camera changes for boss fights is jarring.

Ultimately, I lost interest because there didn’t seem to be much of a story.

Torment: Tides of Numenera

I probably wouldn’t have tried this if I’d known the combat was turn-based. Again, it makes sense in tabletop, but not for a video where I’m trying to be immersed in the moment.

Also, like Tyranny, the amount of reading was ludicrous.

[image error]Darksiders

Like Force Unleashed, this was fun, if a bit mindless. I enjoyed hacking and slashing my way through demons for a while, but the story didn’t grab me much, and when I got stuck on a platforming section, I became frustrated and walked away.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

I know this is considered one of the all-time greats, but to be honest I only lasted about twenty minutes. The graphics have not aged well, and the combat turned me off right away. Then I bugged out(?) and couldn’t move, and I lost my will to keep trying.

Grim Dawn

Seems like a solid game. Very similar to Titan Quest, but not quite as tedious. As in Titan Quest, you can combine classes, which allows for some interesting combos. I went with shaman and occultist, focusing on nature magic and pets. I also liked how, well, grim the setting is. Very ambient.

On the downside, the voice acting is abominable, I felt very starved for skill points, and I strongly dislike games that require you to unlock higher difficulties. Normal is too easy.

[image error]I’m definitely tempted to buy Grim Dawn and play more at some point, but I will have to think about it.

Dungeons III

Now this game I liked. So much so, in fact, that it deserves its own post…

New articles

Finally, before I go, I’d like to drop a link to my latest article at MMO Bro, where I explore group roles outside the traditional trinity.

And don’t forget to follow my Not So Massively column at Massively Overpowered! I have some more detailed reviews of new games I’ve tried recently over there.

ESO’s Necromancer Shouldn’t Be a Class, and I Still Kind of Want to Play One

When Elder Scrolls Online announced the new necromancer class, I groaned inwardly. Not because I think it’s problematic from a lore perspective — according to some people it is, but I’m not invested enough to care — but because this game doesn’t need more classes.

[image error]This is a rare position for me to take. I’m generally all in favour of adding as many classes as possible, as often as possible. I love having more options. But because of the way classes work in ESO, adding a new one feels like it’s limiting options as much as expending them.

Most skills in this game are class-agnostic. A class comprises only three skill lines. Rolling a new character just for those few skills feels more like a punishment than an exciting new toy.

What’s more interesting is when they add new skill lines that anyone can use, like the Psijic Order skills added in Summerset (gods awful grind to unlock them notwithstanding). That creates new options for everyone in a way that’s truly exciting.

In fact, not only would I say that ESO doesn’t need to add more classes, I’d go so far as to say they should do away with the current ones. Just open up the class skills to everyone. Right now ESO is straddling the line between a class-based game and a skill-based game, and it’s kind of getting the worst of both worlds.

That said… I kinda still want to play a necromancer in ESO.

Look, I just really like necromancy, okay? It’s one of my favourite archetypes.

[image error]If I did roll one, I don’t think I’d play it as a necromancer per se. Since all the minions seem weak and disposable, trying to play this class as a full summoner seems like a recipe for disappointment*. However, it does look to have the potential to be a really fun “death knight” style class.

*(Tangent: Does anyone else find it weird that we’re now approaching a point where more than half of ESO’s classes will be pet classes? That’s another thing that makes the addition of the necromancer feel awkward. Its pets have to be weak so as not to step on the toes of the two summoner classes we already have.)

I’m picturing a melee bruiser sort of character who feeds off the life of their enemies. Maybe not a true tank, but a character who can soak up a lot of punishment while also dishing it out. Maybe an Orc. I haven’t played an Orc yet…

But I’m in no rush. In the past, Elsweyr would have been a must-buy for me — it’s possibly the number one area of Tamriel I want to explore, being a Khajiit fan — but I was also really hyped for Summerset, and it turned out to be a pretty big disappointment, so that has dampened my enthusiasm significantly.

Meanwhile I still haven’t touched Morrowind or about half of the base game’s content. Truthfully I haven’t played at all in a few weeks — my interest in ESO is a bit of a low ebb right now.

So the necromancer may tempt me, but it can wait… at least for now.

New article:

In other news, my latest article for MMO Bro tracks five turning points in MMO history.

Song of the Month: Sara Watkins, Take Up Your Spade

Some of the “weather” on the episodes of Welcome to Night Vale I’ve been listening to lately has been pretty on-point. I’ve ended up downloaded a couple of them.

For today’s post, I picked Take Up Your Spade by Sara Watkins. It’s a very uplifting song, which is what I need right now with my ongoing effort to think more positively.

I really like the lyric, “Give thanks for you who can become.”

Dungeons and Dragons: Artificer Impressions

I’m starting to worry I might be flirting with D&D burnout, but for now, it’s still taking up a lot of my time. I stopped going to the AL games where I was playing my war cleric, but I have instead joined a new campaign run by one of my friends on weekends. It’s an episodic campaign with a somewhat fluctuating party composition.

[image error]I had a hell of a time figuring out a class to play for this one. My first thought was to import my cleric or my druid, but there are already several paladins and druids in the party, so that seemed redundant. I considered a Sea Elf sorcerer/warlock, but then one of the other guys decided to be a sorcerer.

Then, serendipitously, Wizards went ahead and published the new Unearthed Arcana artificer class. I took one look at the class and instantly fell in love.

Off the bat, it has most everything I want from a character in D&D. It’s a caster, but it also has strong physical abilities, even going so far as to have Extra Attack (well, Arcane Arsenal technically, but it’s effectively the same ability). It has something to spend bonus actions on every turn, and it’s versatile: buffs, healing, damage, utility, and it can take a few hits.

I chose alchemist as my subclass. It gives me a permanent minion in the form of an “Alchemical Homunculus,” which is actually fairly strong. It can buff my allies and attack. Its attack is not super impressive, but considering it’s just a bonus action…

Having played up to level five now (our DM is generous with XP), I’m finding the class very fun, and possibly a little overpowered.

The artificer itself is not that over the top. It’s strong, but not crazy. It’s very much a “jack of all trades, master of none” class. It can do pretty much anything, but it doesn’t excel in any area. It can heal, but not as well as a cleric, druid, or paladin. It can take a few hits, but it’s not a true tank. It does decent damage, but it will never compete with a rogue or a pure caster on that front.

No, what makes the artificer OP is the crafting. Normally crafting in 5E is pretty weak, but artificers can craft items for a fraction of the cost, in a fraction of the time. As an alchemist, my specialty is brewing potions. My DM house-ruled that at my level I can only brew uncommon rarity potions, but even so that’s been a pretty huge power boost.

Where it gets crazy is that there is apparently no rule saying you can’t give a potion to a construct. So now I’m giving Fire Breath Potions to my Homunculus all the time. 4D6 fire damage as a bonus action for three turns per fight.

That’s where the overpowered part comes in.

I’m also really enjoying this character from a role-play perspective. She’s possibly my most creative one yet.

My artificer is a Deep Gnome named Sylvie Stonewalker. She was a twin, but her twin sister, Allie, was stillborn. The Stonewalker family mourned and moved on. Sylvie did not.

The bond between twins transcended death. As she grew up, Sylvie saw her sister’s spirit every day, and Allie became her best friend. While her family cautioned her to accept her sister’s loss, Sylvie refused. She began to study the sciences with the goal of bringing Allie back to life.

With no body left to resurrect, her only option was to build a new one from scratch. She set forth from the Underdark, taking on the life of an adventurer in the hopes of finding knowledge and supplies to aid her in her goal.

I RP the Homunculus as Sylvie’s first draft at a new body for her sister. It’s only a few inches tall, and some of the limbs don’t match, but it’s a start.

It’s fun because I get to RP two characters for the price of one. Allie can’t talk to anyone but her sister because Sylvie hasn’t gotten her vocal chords working yet, but she can still interact non-verbally.

While Sylvie is the serious one, Allie is the jokerster of the family. She taunts people and pulls pranks, and finds little ways to frollic. Last session as we walked through a field, I had Allie pick a dandelion and begin using it for a parasol.

So that’s my latest flavour of the month character. I really do have a problem. I have ideas for so many more characters, too. Right now I’m also considering a bladedancer/rogue, a Profane Soul blood hunter/druid, a Goliath paladin, and the aforementioned Sea Elf sorlock…

By the way, while I’m talking D&D, be sure to check out the super awesome sketch of my paladin my friend did!

Review: The Umbrella Academy, Season One

Literally everyone I know started watching The Umbrella Academy pretty much the moment the series appeared on Netflix. In fact, one of my friends who works in film even helped make the show (it was filmed in Toronto). Perhaps more importantly, everyone I talked to seemed to like it.

[image error]Also, Ellen Page is one of my favourite human beings, so I’m always happy to support her work.

So it didn’t take me long to dive into Umbrella Academy despite knowing very little about it.

Based on a comic book, The Umbrella Academy is the story of a dysfunctional family of superheroes. There were seven adopted siblings in the “academy,” all of which but one (Number Seven/Vanya, played by the aforementioned Ellen Page) have fantastic powers. Their adoptive father trained them to be heroes who would save the world, but after Number Five disappeared and Number Six was killed,* the team broke apart, and the dream died.

*(Like way too many things on this show, what happened to Six is never explained.)

The story begins with the remaining members of the academy reuniting for the funeral of their father. As old family tensions flare, events take a new turn when Number Five suddenly reappears after being lost in time for decades.

Shenanigans ensue.

Basically, it’s one part X-Men, one part Hellboy, one part Sanctuary, and one part Arrested Development without the jokes.

There is a lot that I don’t like about The Umbrella Academy. For one thing, it takes itself a smidge too seriously. I do generally prefer my superhero stories hew towards the gritty and realistic, but that only works so well in a story about a bunch of squabbling siblings whose main parental figures are a super intelligent chimpanzee butler and a robotic 1950s housewife.

[image error]Also, as I said, this show doesn’t explain anything. I get that too much exposition can bog things down, but seriously, WHY DO THEY HAVE A TALKING CHIMP BUTLER.

It’s clearly a show that wants to be taken seriously, which is ironic when you realize Umbrella Academy is actually a very simple story with very few genuine surprises.

There’s pacing issues, too. The early episodes really drag, while the last few are almost rushed.

Despite all those complaints, though, this is still a series that I found more enjoyable than not, on balance. Mainly because it has two big things working in its favour.

The first is the cast. Pretty much all of the characters are compelling, and the acting is pretty excellent. I’m especially fond of Number Five, who is just such a delightful little curmudgeon. A show like this lives or dies by the strength of its characters, and that’s the one thing I can’t fault The Umbrella Academy on.

The other is that I’m a big fan of this kind of story. There’s a reason the X-Men have always been by far my favourite superheroes. Eclectic bands of weirdos trying to save the world despite their own flaws? That’s my jam.

And that, I think, is how I would define Umbrella Academy: It’s good if you’re a fan of this particular subgenre. It’s not the best example around, but if you like these kind of stories already, it’s good enough to satisfy. If you’re not already a fan of these tropes, I doubt Umbrella Academy would win you over.

Overall rating: 7.4/10

Song of the Month: The Tragically Hip, Fiddler’s Green

More Canadian content today. The most Canadian, in fact, for there can be no more quintessentially Canadian band than the Tragically Hip. I feel unpatriotic for not sharing one of their songs sooner.

With their massive catalogue, there’s any number of songs I could have picked, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve gone with one of the saddest, Fiddler’s Green. It was written for the nephew of the lead singer, who died young during the writing of this album.

I blame the time of year. I may be the only one who feels this way, but spring depresses me something fierce. The peace and beauty of winter are replaced by gloom, rain, mud, and misery, and I dread the coming of summer’s heat.

Of course, any Tragically Hip song now takes on a bittersweet tinge following the passing of the singer, the late great Gord Downie. I remember them playing Fiddler’s Green during their last ever show. Forget the house; there wasn’t a dry eye in the nation during that song.

Those of you in other countries who don’t know the Hip may think I’m exaggerating. I am not. There’s no way to adequately describe in a short blog post what this band and Gord Downie meant to Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself was in tears on national television when the news of Gord’s death broke, and absolutely no one in the country thought this was unreasonable.