Tyler F.M. Edwards's Blog, page 31

Review: Glitch, Season Two

If you recall my review of the first season of Glitch, you’ll remember I found it to be an interesting but deeply flawed series. It didn’t exactly leave me desperate for more, but I had enough investment in the story to be willing to give season two a try when it popped on Netflix.

[image error]As with its predecessor, season two is incredibly brief at just six episodes*, so I’m going to review it all as one block.

*(I swear at this rate in five years a full TV season will just be three fifteen minute webisodes, and there will be eighteen months between each one. I really miss longer seasons.)

Glitch’s second season picks up right where season one left off, seamlessly continuing the story, but there’s a bit of a change in style this time around, and it’s entirely a change for the better.

My biggest complaints with last season were its slow pacing and the lack of any meaningful reveals on the nature of the Risen or the circumstances of their return from the dead. Right away, season two addresses this.

By the end of the first episode, you’ll have a pretty clear idea of what’s actually going on, even if not every single question has been answered. And the reveals continue at a pretty good clip from then on in. Some of them only raise more questions, but that’s as it should be in a good mystery.

The pacing is better, too. It’s still a bit on the slow side at times, but it’s definitely not as glacial as the first season, and the finale is actually quite a thrill-ride — not a phrase I ever expected to apply to Glitch.

[image error]On the downside, there is still more time wasted on the James/Kate/Sarah love triangle than I’d like, and Glitch still tends to feel a bit too “soap opera” sometimes.

Another continued issue is that this remains a series where most of the characters are deeply unlikable, and the worst elements of humanity are often on full display. It can get quite wearing at times. Relaxing television this is not.

As before, salvation comes from the trinity of Charlie, Kirstie, and Paddy. Kirstie continues to be intensely likable even at her most fiery and furious, and Charlie is still the nicest guy ever.

But the MVP award for season two of Glitch must — surprisingly — be awarded to one Patrick Michael Fitzgerald.

Paddy is a character I really don’t want to like. He’s a violent, drunk, racist bastard. He has no right to any sympathy. But damn it if he didn’t somehow worm his way into my heart.

Partly it’s that Ned Dennehy plays him with such swagger and charm, and partly it’s that self-awareness goes a long way.

Thing is, Paddy knows he’s a violent, drunk, racist bastard. Underneath all his cockiness is a great deal of remorse, and the desire to earn what little redemption he can.

[image error]I can’t say too much more without spoilers, but all the most poignant moments of season two are part of Paddy’s story — and that’s saying something, as Kirstie provides stiff competition.

On the whole, season two of Glitch is still a bit rough in places, but it’s a definite improvement over the first season. I was on the fence about this show going into the second season, but now I’m hoping for a season three renewal. If you haven’t tried Glitch before or previously gave up, it may be worth a(nother) look.

Overall rating: 7.7/10

Song of the Month: Chvrches, Get Out

I’ve said before that Metric is my favourite band, but Scotland’s Chvrches are a very close second. Metric wins by dint of a larger and more diverse catalogue. Metric’s changed their sound a lot over the years, with the end result being there’s a Metric song for every mood and occasion. Chvrches, by comparison, has more or less stuck to the same general sound from the get-go.

The upside of, of course, is that sound would probably best be described as “stunningly beautiful.”

There’s also the fact that their lead singer, Lauren Mayberry, is one of my all-time favourite humans. Aside from being brilliantly talented as a musician, she’s incredibly humble, charming, gracious, intelligent, and exceptional in most every way a person can be.

I remember when I saw them live a few years ago. Most bands I’ve seen will occasionally pause to talk to the audience a little, but Lauren was doing so after almost every song. She’d just chatter about anything, as if the roaring crowd was an old friend she was catching up with.

And that, I think, is also a lot of what makes their music special. Lauren’s somehow able to sing a song and make it feel like it’s directed at you personally. There is an intimacy — for lack of a better term — to Chvrches songs that I’ve never experienced with any other music.

I had a hell of a time trying to decide on which Chvrches song to share on my blog, but then they gave me an easy out. This month Chvrches released their first single from their upcoming third album, Love Is Dead.

Get Out maybe isn’t the best Chvrches song ever, but it’s still pretty fun. They don’t often disappoint.

I’m looking forward to the full album.

Review: Star Trek: Discovery, “Will You Take My Hand?” (Season Finale)

After what feels like an eternity we have come to the end of Discovery’s first season. While the show has already been renewed for a second season, this is effectively the end of the series for me, I think. Season one has been a huge disappointment, and watching season two would be naught but an act of masochism on my part.

[image error]Discovery is not a good Star Trek show. Rather than chart new territory or in any way capture the sense of exploration at the heart of the franchise, it spent the entire season milking already tired Trek plot threads, whilst at the same time utterly failing to understand what made those ideas compelling in the first place. The Mirror Universe without camp. Klingons without honour.

But more importantly, Discovery is just not a good show, period. It is, in a word, dumb.

Look, I’m not a stickler for continuity or realism. I’m not bothered at all that Discovery looks so different from the original series, despite taking place in roughly the same era. I’m not bothered by the fact the spore drive makes no sense in the context of either Trek lore or real world science. Little stuff like that doesn’t faze me.

But when every single episode, every single arc, has at least glaring plot hole or logical inconsistency, it’s much harder to tolerate. It speaks to sloppiness, to laziness, on the part of the writers.

And the worst part is that Discovery doesn’t know it’s dumb. It’s all played incredibly straight and serious. It’s a very dumb show that thinks it’s very smart, and the lack of self-awareness and utter tone-deafeness ruins it more than anything else.

It’s no coincidence that two of Discovery’s most enjoyable episodes are also its most unabashedly silly. As a “popcorn show,” Discovery could have worked. But it wants all the credit of being thought-provoking television without doing any of the legwork, and the end result is disastrous.

[image error]In retrospect I should have given up on Discovery much sooner. I regret wasting my time watching it, and blogging on it.

For all that I can be ranty at times, I do try to keep this blog from being too negative. There’s already so much negativity in fandom, and I’m loathe to contribute to it. I know a lot of people are enjoying Discovery, and it’s wrong of me to rain on their parades. But the show had potential, and I kept hoping, and when that hope was lost, blogging on it was a welcome catharsis for my frustration over Discovery’s wasted potential.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s cover the finale, shall we?

In “Will You Take My Hand,” Mirror Georgiou implements her plan to win the war by destroying Qo’nos, and much of the episode deals with the moral dilemma that presents.

Right away, the episode had me facepalming. Last week we were told the Federation had lost 20% of their territory and roughly a third of their fleet, which is bad, but not unrecoverable. But now suddenly the Klingons are at Earth’s doorstep.

Sure, whatever.

The dilemma over the genocide also fails utterly.

Firstly, this plan would never have worked. Destroying their homeworld would just make the Klingons even angrier, and as they are a large empire, it probably wouldn’t have crippled their war machine. More importantly, if the Klingon fleet is already at Earth, blowing up Qo’nos won’t do anything. They’d destroy Earth, then head home. Or just take Earth as a new home.

[image error]Secondly, there’s no moral quandary here. Discovery has never once portrayed Klingons as anything but the embodiment of evil. There is no good in them. There’s no reason to spare them. They’ll always be a threat to anyone around them.

Also, it needs to be said that the Tyler/Voq arc is now proven to have been utterly pointless. It does nothing to affect the arc of the season or its ending, and offers no satisfying conclusion of any kind. It was a complete waste of time.

The only highlight here is, once again, Tilly. Aside from usual her delightfulness, I loved the moment where she shoves aside Tyler — who is clearly making Burnham uncomfortable — to walk beside Burnham instead. A subtle but powerful moment of her looking out for her friend.

Otherwise, a disappointing end to a disappointing season.

Overall rating: 4/10

Fan Fiction: The Light Sith Code

If you ask me, one of the most fun things you can do in SWTOR is play a light side Sith. You’re a true chaotic good hero: passionate, free-spirited, and valiant, fighting to bring positive change to the world.

[image error]It gets me to thinking sometimes what would happen if, in the long term, Jaesa actually succeeded in her mission and led some light side reformation of the Sith. Not turning them into Jedi, but accentuating the more positive aspects of Sith philosophy to create a new order of people who use their passion to bring freedom to the galaxy.

Because when you think about it, there’s a lot of good in the fundamental philosophy of the Sith. I certainly think it has more redeeming aspects than the dehumanizing Jedi Code.

All this got me thinking about what a Light Sith Code would be like. How would their philosophy look if they tweaked it to accent the positive traits of Sith ideology — freedom, embracing one’s humanity, self-empowerment — while discarding the more problematic elements.

This is what I came up with:

Peace is fleeting; passion is eternal

Through passion, we gain knowledge

With knowledge, we take action

Through action, we bring justice

With justice, our chains are broken

The Force shall free us all

The first line was the trickiest. “Peace is a lie” is the most obviously dangerous part of the original Sith Code, though even there arguments could be made that it is still a positive message.

I’m not the biggest fan of the inquisitor class story in SWTOR, but one of my favourite moments in that game is a conversation where the inquisitor and Ashara discuss Sith philosophy, and especially the “peace is a lie” segment. The conclusion they come to is that it doesn’t necessarily decry peace, but only illustrate that peace is not a means unto itself. You don’t make the world a better place by sitting under a tree waiting for enlightenment.

[image error]My challenge then was to illustrate this in just one line. I’m not sure I did as good a job as I could have, but generally the idea is that peace is admirable, but ephemeral, and we must instead rely on our passions — our convictions — to guide us in an ever-changing universe.

Beyond that, I also appropriated the one part of the Jedi Code I actually like — the veneration of knowledge over ignorance — and wrote it in first person plural, rather than singular, to counteract the tendency toward selfishness that tends to run through Sith ideology.

I know many Star Wars fans will say that “light Sith,” or any Sith that aren’t evil, is an oxymoron and a contradiction of Star Wars lore, and I freely grant they may be right. But I think it’s a lot more interesting to view the Jedi and Sith as both flawed, with pros and cons on both sides, and at least in the context of SWTOR — the only Star Wars I much care about — light side Sith are definitely a thing.

And really this is just for my own amusement anyhow.

Review: Star Trek: Discovery, “The War Without, the War Within”

After last week’s refreshingly fun episode, we’re back to Discovery’s old tricks.

[image error]Last week’s ominous statement that the war with the Klingons is over turns out to be yet another attempt at cheap shock value. “The War Without, the War Within” quickly establishes that the war is not, in fact, anywhere near over in any sense of the term. It’s not going great, but most of the Federation still stands.

As “Tyler” recovers from the loss of Voq’s personality, Starfleet’s leadership utilizes the expertise of Emperor Georgiou to plan a daring scheme that could win the war… at the cost of everything the Federation stands for.

Okay, so first we need to talk about Tyler again.

I am running out of ways to describe how monumentally, irredeemably awful this story arc is. It’s just… so… stupid.

Firstly, let’s discuss the fact that he is effectively Ash Tyler now. That makes no sense. None. At all.

Firstly, if one of the personalities had to be removed, it makes no sense for L’Rell to have chosen Tyler. It doesn’t make tactical sense, and it doesn’t make personal sense. There is no way in Sto-vo-kor a Klingon fanatic would doom the man she loves to what amounts to a dishonourable death just to save the stolen consciousness of a dead man from a species she despises.

[image error]For my part, any little sympathy I might have felt for him evaporated when I saw his treatment of Burnham. I actually missed some of the dialogue because I was too busy yelling at the screen.

I don’t recall any other TV show making me so mad I yelled at the screen before. Congrats, Discovery.

So at this point I’m not sure it matters if Tyler’s really a Klingon or not. Either way, he’s an asshole.

Meanwhile, the moral conundrum of the main plot also falls flat. It would be a great dilemma if we were still dealing with the Klingons of The Next Generation or any other modern Star Trek, but Discovery has consistently shown the Klingons to be, again, soulless monsters with no redeeming qualities. I don’t think anything you do to them would be unethical.

I mean, if it’s okay to murder Voq, I don’t see how anything can’t be justified.

Michelle Yeoh is still awesome. That’s the best I can do as far as silver linings go.

Overall rating: 3/10

WoW: End It All

The first Warcraft game came out in 1994, when I was four years old (though I think I may have been five by the time I got around to playing it). Over the next twenty years and more, the story that began there has continued, through games, books, comics, audio dramas, and even a movie. I’ve been there (nearly) every step of the way.

[image error]And by and large, that story was the story of the Burning Legion. Even when the demons and their fel magic were not the central theme, it all tied back to them one way or another.

Now, with the release of Antorus, the Burning Throne, the story of the Burning Legion has at last come to an end, and I can’t escape the feeling that this is also the end of Warcraft… or at least Warcraft as we know it.

Yes, recent plot revelations make the Void arguably the greater threat, but it just doesn’t carry the same weight of history the Legion does. Over the years, if I ever pictured a final conclusion to the story of Warcraft, I pictured a final glorious confrontation with Sargeras and his Burning Crusade.

And now it’s here.

I say all this to give you an idea of just how much of my life this story has been, and how surreal it is to finally see its end. In so much as an entertainment product can be, the release of Antorus is a Major Event in my life.

Fair warning: This post will contain copious spoilers for Antorus and all that follows.

Rise, my broken world:

[image error]There’s a lot I like about Antorus, and I don’t want to send the impression that my view of it is entirely or even mostly negative, but if I’m being honest, it did leave me a bit disappointed.

One problem is that over the course of Legion we’ve already fought and killed pretty much everyone who was anyone within the Burning Legion. So most of Antorus is just taken up by fighting no-name demons who feel like filler. Varimathras is really the only big name here, and without his original voice actor, he just doesn’t feel the same.

Things do get a lot more interesting in the later parts of the raid, where the story shifts focus to the Titans. But the trouble there is that it’s a good story… but about 90% of it happens off camera.

For instance, there’s no explanation of how the Titans’ souls wound up in Antorus. Last we heard, they were on Azeroth.

Now, the Legion has been running roughshod over Azeroth for months now, so it’s not exactly far-fetched that they could have grabbed the Titans’ souls somewhere along the line. But it just seems like that’s a story that would have been worth telling.

I’m especially curious what happened to Wrathion, since he was (implied to be) the current host for Aman’thul’s spirit. Did they kill him?

[image error]I also don’t understand how the Titans suddenly resurrected themselves, or how they were able to defeat Sargeras. Last time he fought them, he was able to kill them all himself, and that’s when they were at full power.

It just feels unfinished.

It’s also a bit of a shame to see the Titans so scaled down. They’re living planets, and they’re supposed to have the size to match. I realize there’s no possible way that could have been made to work in a game like this, but it just doesn’t feel right to be fighting Aggramar and have him be “only” forty feet tall.

On the plus side, I love the idea of using a twisted version of Titan architecture for the deeper parts of Antorus. Because of course Sargeras isn’t a demon; he’s a Titan. His inner sanctum would reflect that. It’s not something I ever would have thought of myself, but it makes perfect sense.

Also, the final fight against Argus the Unmaker is glorious. One of the absolute most mind-bending, crazy, over the top boss fights I’ve ever seen in a video game. Even on Raid Finder difficulty, it’s incredibly intense, and it does feel like a worthy end to the epic saga of the Burning Legion.

Taken all in all… I honestly still don’t know how to feel about Antorus, and the Legion’s end. There’s good, there’s bad, and there’s a mountain of expectation and history to overcome. It’s hard to process.

Your crusade is over:

[image error]What I actually liked a lot more than Antorus was the quest that immediately follows, wherein you deliver Illidan’s last words to his brother and Tyrande. It’s very a personal, touching moment, and it’s the sort of things video games could really use more of.

Both of them seem rather unfairly harsh to Illidan, but then they always have been. Being misunderstood is kind of his thing.

I am very glad Illidan finally got the heroic end he deserves.

On the other hand, the quests in Silithus are crushingly depressing. Not even in an enjoyable “beautifully tragic” sort of way, like the Crusader Bridenbrad storyline. Just in a “I don’t even care anymore” sort of way. Even Khadgar seems to have been broken by it all.

And yes, it does seem clear that Horde players are going to be forced to be evil whether we like it or not once again. At least with Garrosh, it was clear from the start that there was dissent within the ranks. Now everyone seems perfectly fine with being cartoonishly villainous.

Also, did they seriously replace Saurfang’s voice actor? That level of heresy is simply unforgivable.

This only increases my growing conviction that it may be time to move on from WoW after Legion. The story is not going anywhere I like, and flawed though it may have been, I don’t see how they can ever top Antorus.

We just fought and defeated a living planet. There is nowhere to go from here but down.

SWTOR: Legendary Reflections

I have finally completed my journey through all eight class stories within Star Wars: The Old Republic and earned my “legendary player” portrait frame, which I’m sure will deeply impress the rest of my group when I do my one flashpoint of the year.

[image error]Before I leave this all behind me, I’d like to take one last look back at this strange festival of altoholism.

The best of times, the blurst of times:

In a rare case of my agreeing with the majority, I would say the award for best class story goes to the Imperial agent. Maybe I’m biased because it was the first one I did, but none of the others excited me quite so much.

The themes of trust and betrayal really resonated with me, and it feels “bigger” and more important than any of the others. No other class can say they saved not just the Empire or the Republic, but all of galactic civilization as we know it.

That said, I also enjoyed the consular and warrior stories quite a lot. While it never quite reaches the heights of the agent story, the warrior arc is probably the most consistently good, with no major rough patches, and I enjoyed how well the consular story captured the feeling of what a Jedi should be at their best, a deeply spiritual beacon of wisdom and enlightenment.

The smuggler and bounty hunter stories were also good rides on the whole. Really Jedi knight and trooper were the only downright bad ones.

[image error]I’m not sure I could pick a single favourite companion. Different ones appeal in different ways. For sheer entertainment value, Vette can’t be beat, but Nadia is just so damn lovable.

I’m also fond of Mako, Temple, Jaesa, and Corso, and Loken deserves way more love than he gets. I love his dynamic with the agent.

(Lana is also a favourite, but is qualified from this discussion by being from outside the class stories.)

Least favourite is still Kaliyo, if only because I was stuck with her so long, but Skadge, T7, Tharan, Doc, Zenith, and Pierce are also on the shortlist to be airlocked.

When it comes to gameplay, well, combat sucks in this game in general, but the one that manages to wring the most fun from this weak system is knight/warrior. It’s the only one that even comes close to capturing some of the spectacle of the films.

Agent/smuggler is pretty good, too, though I’ve only ever played the DoT spec of the ranged sub-class. I like the “set ’em, knock ’em down” feel of loading the enemy up with DoTs and debuffs and then mowing them down with Cull. It helps compensate for the game’s awful button bloat, too. You don’t have to use all your debuffs on the weaker targets.

[image error]Least favourite would probably be trooper/bounty hunter. The rotations just don’t seem to have any real flow or logic to them at all. It feels like a class designed by amateurs.

The big picture:

The interesting thing about finishing every class story is that it gives you a very complete view of the game, though this can be a double-edged sword.

The downside is that it does expose how formulaic they are. All things considered, Bioware does a very admirable job of making each story feel unique, but the fact remains you’re going to all the same places in the same order with very little variation.

If only level-scaling had been implemented at the game’s launch. They could have been so much more creative.

Also, we need to have an intervention about the doomsday weapons. Nearly every story has some insane over the top planet-killing death machine with a ridiculous name, and it lapses into unintentional self-parody after a while.

But playing every story does have the benefit of giving you a very three-dimensional understanding of the meta story.

[image error]What I found fascinating is how interconnected the class stories turned out to be. Going in, I thought they all existed in their own little bubbles, each representing a different version of events, but that isn’t the case at all. All the class stories coexist in the same reality and often intersect with each other.

The agent story is famous for its nods to the others, but it’s far from the only one to do so. There are even some crossover moments, like Mako appearing in the consular story or Kaliyo’s cameo in the knight story.

Finally, playing every class story does make clear that neither faction can be considered the “good guys.” The Empire’s flaws are always on full display, but it eventually becomes clear the Republic has nearly as many skeletons in its closet. It’s just better at hiding them.

Funnily enough, it’s often the Republic classes who get the clearest view of the Republic at its worst. The Jedi knight story, in particular, puts the Republic and Jedi in a worse light than any other part of the game.

But I think the best take on the factions comes from the agent and bounty hunter stories. Both are stories of (relatively) ordinary people caught in the crossfire of galactic conflict, and both make clear that the Sith and the Jedi are — to paraphrase a comment I saw on a forum once — “petty idiots fighting meaningless wars.”

[image error]If you missed some posts or are just joining us now, here are my thoughts on each story as I played through them:

Imperial agent
Jedi consular
Sith inquisitor
Sith warrior
Trooper
Smuggler
Jedi knight
Bounty hunter

Now what?

Although I haven’t been back for that long, I think another break from SWTOR is likely. I’ve simply run out of stuff to do, at least until the next patch — and if recent history is any indication, it will be the sort of thing you can finish in an hour or two at most.

I really hope we hear of a new expansion soon. Even if it’s still aways off, knowing it’s coming would make a big difference. SWTOR has not been having a good run lately. It needs some good news.

In the interim, the best I could do is repeat stuff I’ve already done. And while I may want to do that at some point, I’m not sure now is the time.

[image error]I would like to finish the expansion content on another character at some point. Currently my consular is halfway through Fallen Empire, and my warrior has dipped his toes into Shadow of Revan. However, I’m paralyzed by indecision over which to press on with.

I’d like to make different choices on my next playthrough of Fallen Empire/Eternal Throne, but if I’m to stay true to his character, my warrior would probably make mostly the same choices my agent did. Meanwhile my consular would likely take a different path, but I don’t really want to play him until Nadia is reintroduced. Yes, I know I can get her back via the console, and I have, but it’s just not the same.

Can I just say how pissed I am that there’s still no sign of her coming back anytime soon? It’s not just that Nadia is one of my favourite companions, but of all the companions in this game, Nadia is the one where it makes the absolute least amount of sense for her to not find you immediately. She and the consular are Force-bonded; she can hear his heart beating from halfway across the galaxy.

Bioware better have a damn good explanation for where she’s been all this time.

Anyway…

I have also given vague thought to redoing Lana’s romance, but I would need to send another character into the expansions for that, as my warrior and consular are both married. Most likely my inquisitor. It’s a decent class with a good voice actor, and he wouldn’t be completely out of place the way my smuggler or bounty hunter would be.

[image error]There’s also a part of me that would like to repeat some of the better class stories at some point, but I’m too burnt out on the formula right now, and I would dearly love to never, ever see Balmorra again, so we’ll see.

For now, I think a break is best.

Review: Star Trek: Discovery, “What’s Past Is Prologue”

After doing an awful lot of brooding, it’s finally time for some action on Discovery. Lorca is loose on the palace-ship, and he frees his followers to stage a bloody coup against Emperor Georgiou.

[image error]Meanwhile, Discovery, uh, discovers that the palace-ship’s core is what’s killing the mycelial network. It’s up to Burnham to evade the warring factions and sabotage the Charon so that Discovery can fire on the core and save the network.

But problems with the plan keep mounting, creating what appears to be a no-win scenario that fans have quickly and brilliantly dubbed the “Kobayashi Saru.”

In a stark contrast to the rest of the Mirror Universe arc to date, this is actually a very good episode.

Oh, it’s still dumb as hell. I love how people who’ve spent nearly two years being constantly tortured are immediately combat ready, with apparently no lasting negative effects. Stamets has also made a remarkably quick recovery from his boyfriend dying. If I was new to the show, I’d think Stamets was a sociopath, but I know it’s just bad writing.

But here’s the thing: Yes, “What’s Past Is Prologue” is a dumb episode, but it’s fun dumb. Popcorn movie dumb. Put your brain in neutral and just enjoy the ride dumb.

Yeah, Lorca has lost all his nuance, but (all credit to Jason Isaacs) he’s at least as entertaining as a hammy mustache twirler, if not more so. I will pat myself on the back a little for successfully predicting Lorca as the real main villain of the season, though it certainly came about in a far different way than I’d expected.

[image error]This is what the Mirror Universe is supposed to be: cheese. It’s far too much of a cartoon parody of evil to ever take seriously. Discovery’s been trying to use it for serious story-telling, but it’s far too ridiculous a scenario for that to ever work. You need to turn in to the cheese. You need to embrace it.

And that’s why “What’s Past Is Prologue” works so much better than most Discovery episodes, despite making a lot of the same mistakes. It’s a dumb episode, but it never tries to be anything else. “In a Mirror, Darkly” wasn’t exactly thought-provoking television either, but it’s (rightly) regarded as one of the best things Enterprise ever did.

“What’s Past Is Prologue” is pure, extravagant action, and it’s all just fun and exciting from beginning to end. That makes it easy to forgive the episode’s flaws. It’s just good entertainment, plain and simple.

And we get to see Michelle Yeoh finally show off her amazing martial arts skills, and the special effects are incredible, and we get a little more (though still not enough) of Rekha Sharma, and best of all the Tyler/Voq story is entirely ignored.

Overall rating: 7.9/10 Probably too little too late at this point, but at least something good came out of the Mirror Universe arc.

Gaming Round-Up: How MMOs Changed Me, The Division, ESO, and More

With my goals in SWTOR complete, I’ve spent the last month or so bouncing between various different titles, which means it’s time for another gaming round-up post.

[image error]Long Division:

Around the holidays, I started poking back into The Division. I had trouble articulating why I gave up on the game before, and I’m even less clear on why I returned, but over a few weeks of sporadic play, I’ve managed to complete the main story and explore all of the launch zones.

I managed to solo the main story missions by simply outleveling or over-gearing them. It involved a bit of frustration at first, but once I was ahead of the curve, it was pretty easy to stay ahead of the curve, and I settled into a good rhythm of play as I cleared out zone after zone.

I had only one speed bump, when I hit max level. See, The Division has these things called World Tiers that scale up the difficulty and rewards of everything in the game to keep everything relevant no matter how geared you get.

Which is actually a great idea, except for the part where you’re automatically upgraded to the first World Tier (with no option to downgrade) as soon as you hit level cap, meaning you’ll be facing roughly twice as many enemies at roughly twice the strength while still in your crappy leveling gear.

The increased rewards allowed me to gear up very quickly, and soon the game was easier than ever, but it was a little bit of a baptism by fire.

[image error]The World Tiers do damage the game’s ambiance a little bit, too. For most of the game, The Division has a relatively scarcity of both mobs and loot, and that helps sell the loneliness and privation of the setting. But then you hit max level, and suddenly it’s Diablo: Enemies are swarming everywhere, and loot is raining from the sky.

On a more positive note, the main story did get a lot more interesting by the end. For most of the game, it’s just a lot of shooting random criminals (many of whom are shockingly racist stereotypes), but the later legs delve a lot more into realms of conspiracy and intrigue, and it’s a lot more enjoyable.

The ending leaves some tantalizing loose ends, too. There’s definitely room for story DLC or even a Division 2, and I’m invested enough that I’d shell out money for either.

Overall, though, the most memorable parts of The Division will probably still be the smaller, more personal stories revealed through cell phone recordings, other lore pick-ups, and environmental storytelling. I was particularly invested in the ongoing trials of April Kelleher, a character you’ll follow through the entire game without ever actually meeting in person, and I became quite an avid listener to Rick Valassi’s “pirate radio podcast for paranoid insomniacs.”

The Division remains a game with more than a few hiccups, but I’m glad I came back and finished it. It’s got a real charm to it, despite its flaws.

[image error]Boresinium:

I’ve also dabbled with a little Elder Scrolls Online in the past weeks. I bought the Orsinium DLC on sale ages ago, and this seemed like a good time to finally play it.

Despite Orsinium’s near-universal praise, I was concerned going in because my experience to date has been that Elder Scrolls Orcs are very boring. They seemed to just be the bog standard stereotype of, “Me Orc. Me hit things and eat bugs.”

Unfortunately, Orsinium did nothing to change this perception. I found the story so dull I struggled badly to find the motivation to even finish the DLC.

There are a few silver linings. One is that Wrothgar is a gorgeous zone. Man, why do all the best looking zones in this game belong to the most boring races?

Another is that Orcs have surprisingly bad security, and I never feel bad for robbing them. I made a lot of gold in that DLC.

Finally, I did enjoy Eveli. Yes, I liked the quirky Elf girl. I’m sure you’re all shocked by this unforeseeable turn of events.

[image error]What was a more positive experience was the ESO Plus free trial, which gave everyone subscriber perks for a week. I’ve long been of the view a subscription in ESO is not worth it, but this may have changed my mind, at least a little. There’s a lot of very nice quality of life perks.

One of the biggest is the ability to freely dye costumes, which makes much more of a difference than I would have expected. Some of the costumes have a totally different feel with better dye jobs, and I’m now using them a lot more.

Also, rented access to all DLC is nice for one reason: A lot of DLC give you rewards just for zoning into the new area, and you’ll keep those rewards even if you let your sub lapse. I got a great assassin personality just for taking the thirty seconds to teleport to the Gold Coast.

I had hoped to play through the Imperial City DLC during the free week, as it is ostensibly the conclusion to the game’s “main” story about Molag Bal, but that proved untenable. Going in, I was worried about the open PvP nature of the Imperial City, but I never got ganked once. Instead, I was simply unable to solo the boss at the end of the first quest.

The Molag Bal story is actually fairly dull, so never seeing the conclusion isn’t the end of the world, but on principle, I dislike it when MMOs suddenly require groups to see the end of an otherwise soloable story. It’s one of the genre’s worst habits.

[image error]Also, I was underwhelmed by the environmental design of the Imperial City. After hearing about it all game, I was expecting something amazing, but it’s just the standard Imperial architecture you see elsewhere, but with more holes.

Oh, and as you can see, I have changed my character’s look yet again. In my defense, this was the hairstyle I had in mind when I revamped her the first time; it just wasn’t available yet.

…And then I got her some new tattoos because I had some crowns leftover. On the plus side, these tattoos cover so much more skin that I can head canon these are genuinely new tattoos, rather than a “retcon” of her appearance.

Free mediocrity:

When the release date for the Age of Empires remaster got pushed back, everyone who’d pre-ordered got a free copy of a game called Rise of Nations. Recently I had the flu, and a slow-paced strategy game seemed like the way to go, so I loaded up RoN.

It’s definitely in a similar vein to the Age franchise, but it’s even slower, and feels kind of clunky and dull overall. It’s actually a lot closer to Empire Earth, the massively over-ambitious and deeply unsatisfying attempt to one-up Age of Empires.

[image error]The strangest thing about it is how drunk on upgrades RoN is. I mean, AoE always had tons of upgrades, but RoN is on a whole other level. It feels like you spend all your time researching upgrades. There are literally upgrades for your upgrades.

So yeah, I didn’t last long in Rise of Nations. The one thing I can say is that the graphics hold up really well for what’s clearly an older game. It’s kind of like an impressionist painting, and the towns just look so pretty.

The music was nice, too.

New articles:

Finally, I’ve had a few more articles published at MMO Bro. One of my favourite articles that I’ve gotten to write in a long time discusses how playing MMOs has changed me as a gamer and altered my approach to gaming as a hobby. Surprisingly, it’s almost all good things.

I also go old school and rant about how subscriptions suck — something I did a lot of in the early years of this blog — and discuss how I believe the future of the genre lies with niche MMOs.

Review: Star Trek: Discovery, “Vaulting Ambition”

The crew of the Discovery has hit another snag on their attempts to return home: the files on the Defiant have been redacted of all useful information. Because Stamets remains out of commission and it has still somehow not occurred to an entire ship full of scientists that they could just make another pilot for the spore drive, Burnham has no choice but to infiltrate the imperial palace-ship in search of more information.

[image error]This is, of course, a monumentally stupid idea, and it ends about as well as you’d expect.

Meanwhile, Voq’s clash with Tyler’s memories begins to tear his mind apart, and Stamets finds his consciousness adrift in the mycelial network, where a dark force threatens to tear down all realities.

Now, there are actually some things I like about “Vaulting Ambition.” Stamets’ story, in particular, is really well done. It’s great sci-fi, with a real feeling of something epic brewing, and it also brings about some of the most heartfelt scenes in this series to date.

Also, the Terran Empire’s palace-ship is incredibly cool. It’s sort of like a cross between a Star Destroyer and the Spear of Adun, and it’s just all kinds of badass and amazing.

Everything else, though?

Errr…

Well, Tyler/Voq is still a mess. Last episode was all about how the conflict between Tyler’s memories and Voq’s personality was gone and only Voq now remained, but now all of a sudden the two sides are in constant war with one another. Because reasons!

This arc now seems to have found a kind of resolution; it’s terribly rushed and makes no sense, but really, what could they have possibly done to salvage this dumpster fire of a story at this point?

[image error]Really, that’s Discovery’s motto right there.

I’m also a little uncomfortable with the revelation he’s a sexual predator (maybe even a pedophile). In all fairness, I probably shouldn’t be. There’s no rule that says Star Trek can’t touch on such themes. It’s darker than the franchise usually goes, but there’s nothing necessarily wrong with going dark places.

I guess it just feels like, again, cheap shock value. Lorca was already evil enough. Did he really need to be a child-molester, too? Could this show be any less subtle?

And I don’t really trust Discovery to handle this properly, especially given the show’s massively insensitive handling of the topic of sexual assault in the past.

I do feel a little bad for trashing this show in every review. I know a lot of people are enjoying Discovery (somehow), and I don’t like raining on people’s parades. I should probably just stop watching — I’m basically hate-watching at this point — but I’m invested enough that I kind of want to see how the season ends. I very much doubt I’ll show up for season two.

I suppose I could stop doing the reviews, but I do find it cathartic to have a good rant after each episode.

Well, there’s only a few episodes left.

Overall rating: 5/10