Category: 2020

YouTuesday: Cab Ride Videos

A First Person View of a Train Ride in Norway at Night with a cartoon image of a woman in the bottom right corner. Text in Picture equals: Train Driver's Chat, Norway. Nordic Midsummer Night Train.
Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNDYdGxsXI0

So, I thought I’d try a new feature to help me break out of the “Awwww . . . I’ve just written 250 (500, 750, 1000, 1500) words today on my dissertation. I really want to blog but I don’t want to put in another 1 hour stint at the computer today . . . I’ll just wait, get up early, and do the blog tomorrow” cycle that I’ve been in for most of the summer. This really isn’t an exaggeration–much of my thought process looks a lot like this–at least, on the days that I worked on my dissertation. On the days that I didn’t, it was more like, “Awwww, I put a fairly intensive stint yesterday of writing, I don’t really want . . .” and yes, you know how that sentence is going to end.

Since I watch a fair bit YouTube these days, I thought I’d go ahead and just highlight some of the videos, channels, content that I’m watching so as to 1) force myself to write on days that I don’t really feel like it, 2) give some support/exposure to YouTubers out there who are, like myself, doing this for the love of it (yes, unlike me they have a chance of getting paid via the “Algorithm” if they monetize their channel, but my understanding is only sponsorships and/or Patreon is really effective anymore), and 3) hopefully interest some of you all who read the blog in content that also interests me.

Today’s featured channel: RailCowGirl

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj-Xm8j6WBgKY8OG7s9r2vQ

Cab Rides: Sanity for a Covid-19 World

In 2017, I discovered the “Cab Ride” video scene. I was looking for something to put on in the background while I did work, and (at least in the beginning) it worked. However, in most cases, the scenery is so good that I find that I often miss the great scenery when I’m doing work, and will have to spend large chunks of time going back and rewinding the stream/footage in order to see the great vistas.

I started out with rail journeys–there was a channel on PlutoTV called Slow TV and it showed an 8 hour train journey. I found a channel on YouTube (YT) that had the same video (with the same journey done in all four seasons). I subscribed and watched the videos (again, in the background), and YT being YT, more and more train cab ride recommendations started rolling in.

RailCowGirl’s channel was one that I found. It actually had another name at the time, but she’s since changed it to more accurately reflect her channel’s content.

RailCowGirl: Flam Railway

Amazing Content and Amazing Views

One of the things that I love about this channel is that she publishes videos frequently and the routes that she shows on her channel are always amazing. I remember one of the first videos that I saw had her train running next to a bubbling stream with mountains all around. It was in the summer (I think–although it could have been spring), but watching the water stream along as we passed several small towns was pretty amazing.

Earlier videos seem (to me) to have been shorter runs, but later videos on the channel seem like they are much longer ones (1 hour to 3 hours). One thing that I don’t think she gets enough praise for is her livestreams. For a while during the Pandemic in 2020, it seemed like she streamed nearly every day. While I wasn’t always able to catch her streams due to work, school, or whatever, I really appreciated that she had content in the form of videos or livestreams that I could turn to if I needed a break from the “Covid Craziness” that was last year.

There were actually two livestreams running today when I visited her page to grab the link.

RailCowGirl: Voss

Realism and Verisimilitude

One of the things that really makes this channel shine is the fact that the videos are always of high quality. That really makes a difference. There are some cab ride channels that are using older 720p or 1080p cameras (although they are admittedly older channels), but the quality (especially when the trains are in motion) isn’t often detailed enough for me. As a video game player, I find that I’m really sensitive to resolution rather than motion. I won’t go off on the resolution vs frame rate debate that is a constant in the video game community, but I (personally) like images to be as sharp and crisp as possible and don’t need a “buttery-smooth” frame rate. For me, it is the clarity in the resolution that aids in the “immersion” faction.

The same is true for videos. While I don’t have a 4K display (unless you count this Apple MacBook Pro screen which a Retina Display and at least close to 4K if not exactly matching the specs), watching videos in as high a resolution as I can really helps me to feel like I’m there. I love the quality of the videos here!

RailCowGirl: Norway

Next time you’re feeling overloaded, you might want to slow down and give these cool videos and channel a look! Have a great day!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (July 2021):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed.
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.
  • To Dance the Sea of Storms (Fantasy Story)
    Prewrite: Completed, Plan & Outline: Completed, Write a first draft: Completed, Revision: In P

Keep It Simple

Man in suit drawing a straight red line through a maze to illustrate the point to Keep Things Simple
Image Source: https://summitlife.org/keep-it-simple-summit-life-today/

So, it has been about two weeks or so since I last wrote a blog entry. Am I burned out? Have I lost the desire to blog? Nope, I’ve just been doing 2 major things (and a lot of minor things) that have taken my time away from blogging. So, work has been constant this summer and where I might have had an hour or two to blog in other summers, I’m usually working in the mornings and afternoons, so this obviously means I don’t have as much time for blogging that I might under other circumstances. However, more than that I’ve been 1) reorganizing the way I write/create my stories, and 2) working on my dissertation. I’ve talked a little bit about the first point already, but I really want to tackle the second point today.

The 29 Page Introduction

So, if you’ve read the heading above, you’ll know that my Introduction is 29 pages long. Except it isn’t. You see, even for a dissertation, 29 pages is extraordinarily long. Thanks to feedback I received, I realized that I wasn’t really writing an introduction (which is what I’d been working on most of the summer), but rather I’d actually been writing the beginning of one of my chapters. Now, I’ve been working on and off on this 29 page “section” for the better part of the summer. This is the reason why many days I’ve just not had the desire to blog–after putting 250 words (minimum–it’s usually closer to 500 words) per session, there’s just not a whole lot of impetus sit down and knock out another 500-750 words for the blog–although I’m working to change that, starting this week.

Why 29 Pages?

I started out on the Introduction shortly after the TPA Conference wrapped up in late February/early March. I got pretty far by the time the Spring Semester started, but for some reason, after reading over it, and other examples of dissertations, I didn’t feel like mine was very good. So, I thought, “Right, let’s just start over and do this right.” In essence, I’d let the “inner critic” take over too soon. So, I came up with a more elaborate plan, and really dug deep into the events of last summer (summer 2020) in the United States in order to set the stage for what I was planning on covering and why it was important. This is where the 29 pages comes from.

Where’s the Beef?

However, when I gave it to the University Writing Center (UWC), while I was given good feedback on it, one of the consultants asked, where’s the Afrofuturism part. This wasn’t a knock–just an (astute) observation! I continued to write, but alarm bells began ringing in the back of my mind and I felt like I was going on the wrong path. I decided to look at other dissertations in my area, but more specifically, ones that were published by my school and they were much shorter than what I was working on.

Pivoting for the Win

So, I’ve spent the past week, revising and rewriting my Introduction. I haven’t thrown away the 29 pages that I wrote, just copied the material to Chapter 4, so I will have a head start for that chapter. What I’ve learned from this process, however, is that I have a tendency to “over complicate” things. I seem to think that “simple” = “too simple” and therefore = “bad.” However, I know from experience that this isn’t always the case. I used to be into Role Playing Games (RPGs)–collecting them and (when I was a teenager) playing them. Aliens RPG, based on the Aliens movie was one that I managed to find (unfortunately, I gave it away along with about 25 other fairly rare RPGs). However, I remember that it was SO complex that it would have been nearly impossible to run. I may be confusing it with another RPG, but I also remember it as being “deadly” in that the rules were so lethal to characters, getting hit in combat and failing a roll would have maimed or killed characters left, right, and center.

My point with the Aliens RPG is that the game, while complex, complicated, and reflecting a fairly large amount of reality, wouldn’t have been much fun. It would have been a slog–the game was really more of a nice sourcebook than an actual game. I innately know that complicated doesn’t always mean better, but there’s always this striving for perfection in me that sometimes makes me turn the simple into the complicated.

Luckily, due to some insightful questioning by one of my friends/colleagues here at MTSU, I was able to pivot before I’d gotten too far in the weeds. I’m really going to have to work on the KISS model: Keep It Simple, Sidney! 😁

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (July 2021):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed.
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.
  • To Dance the Sea of Storms (Fantasy Story)
    Prewrite: Completed, Plan & Outline: Completed, Write a first draft: Completed, Revision: In Progress.

Academic Writing: Rewriting My CV and Creating a Cover Letter

Picture of a laptop and tablet along with glasses and a notebook with handwritten pages. Text over image: "Sample Graduate CV for Academic and Research Positions"
Image Source: https://wordvice.com/sample-graduate-cv-for-academic-and-research-positions/

So, I’d intended to write a blog post for Wednesday of last week, but I ran out of time. I was working on academic writing for an opportunity that came up that I wanted to try out for. However, that meant getting my Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Cover Letter in shape. In doing so, I learned a little bit about myself as a writer.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

So, a CV is an essential tool in the academic community. It functions much like a Resume in that it is the primary tool that jobs, search committees, and the like use to vet potential applicants. Like a resume, the CV is supposed to make a good impression and allow you to stand out, but at the same time, follow all the conventions of the genre. However, a Resume isn’t limited to the 1 or 2 pages that a resume is limited to in that it isn’t supposed to be a “brief” listing of previous jobs, but rather a fairly comprehensive “record” of your life on paper. One should be able to get a glimpse at who you are through your CV.

However, in working on my CV, I seemed to have taken this idea of a “record of one’s life” far too literally. A lot of the information on my CV needed to be jettisoned as either redundant or too much about areas of my life that don’t have a purely “academic” focus. I had to really trim it down and focus on one or two key areas under each item rather than giving a huge description and going into a lot of detail about each item on the CV. I have something that I rather like, but it was difficult. I’m thankful that I had a professor who was willing to look over the draft multiple times and help me with it.

Cover Letter

Like the CV, I thought I knew how to write a good cover letter. I’ve always been taught to keep the cover letter at around 1 page. That meant 3 solid paragraphs: one detailing the position and how/where I’d heard about it and why I thought I might be a good candidate for it, a second detailing my relevant experience and my educational achievements (esp. in academia) that made me a good fit for the position (or at the very least, showed why I felt I was able to apply for the position), and third, a final paragraph wrapping everything up and indicating my overall interest in the position. By the time you had the address, salutation, and closing, along with the signature, that was pretty much all there was room for on one page.

However, when I received the feedback, I realized that I needed more–much more–and that I needed to give specifics where I’d written generalities. In other words, the 1 page limit doesn’t hold anymore (at least not in academia). So, I wrote more, but where my professor’s example was a page and a half, mine had ballooned out to 2 pages. When the professor gave me feedback, I saw where she suggested that I eliminate some of the extra that I’d added in. In the end, the draft ended up at about the same one and a half pages that my professor’s example was.

Lessons Learned

So, from this experience, I’ve learned that I tend to “over-write,” especially when I’m trying to give specifics. I’m a person who likes to know exactly what happened and in what context. When I talk to people, I often close my eyes, not because I’m lying to them or have something to hide, but because I want to visualize the scene and recreate it as exactly as possible from memory.

I’m willing to bet that some of my issues in terms of creative writing stem from simply “over-writing.” I’ve been told by an editor or two that the beginning of the story is “slow” which I’m only now coming to understand and parse as probably too much detail (especially at the beginning). However, it is my desire to set the scene and have the reader understand exactly what’s happening. When I don’t do this, I get editors who say my setting is too sketchily rendered and they don’t know where something is happening (this happened on Unhallowed recently). Like the cover letter, I either end up with too little detail or too much. I need to find a “happy medium” or a “Goldilock Zone” for my writing where I can give enough information so that it is relevant, but not so much information that I bore the editors reading the story.

This is something I’m going to work on going forward–trying to find one or two salient details to include in a story for verisimilitude and then hoping those details are strong enough while I continue on with the story itself. I’m also going to watch out for this in my academic writing as well–I’m stuck on the “Introduction” of my dissertation because I can’t seem to find the right “path.” However, I think the right path is already there–my dissertation proposal. I need to use it as my springboard/outline and push forward so that I can make progress on the dissertation.

Somehow, someway, I’ve got to learn to resist the temptation of the “dark side” and falling into the trap of over-writing (which I’m doing now, by the way, on this blog entry). I’ve made the point and now it is time for me to stop writing.

Stop writing, Sidney.

Stop.

Put down the keyboard!

Finis.

End.

🙂

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (May 2021):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    2021 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    2021 Revision: In Progress
  • To Dance the Sea of Storms (Fantasy Story)
    Prewrite: Completed, Plan & Outline: Completed, Write a first draft: Completed, Revision: In Progress

Back to Basics: AKA Back to Blogging

Moving image: Keanu Reeves in John Wick mouthing the dialogue from a scene in the movie that is below his mouth in white lettering: "Yea, I'm thinking I'm back."
Image Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/nD2LWjO

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for being gone for so long and not blogging consistently for at least the last 4-5 months. This blog post will be both an explanation of what happened and what I’ve learned over this period.

I didn’t intend to stop blogging on a (mostly) daily basis, but it is something that just happened as I was teaching during Covid. Every post took longer and longer to write and more and more time was taken by the requirements of school. I found that the more I wrote, the less time I had for grading and preparing for the next week’s lesson. So, while I tried to continue to blog, it just made my life harder and harder, so I finally had to stop. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t have topics to blog about (oh, boy did I have topics), but instead of helping me by allowing me to coalesce my thoughts, it hindered me from getting my work (school or otherwise) done in a timely manner.

However, here are the biggest factors/reasons that I stepped away from blogging at the end of 2020.

School (Online)

So the biggest issue was school. Now, most of you are aware that I’m a graduate student working on my PhD. Generally speaking, school is my largest time-sink in that, even though I’m finished with my course work, I often have to teach in order to stay in school. Well, with Covid this year, most classes were held online. I had two sections of an English Literature class (English 2020: Themes in Literature) and I chose to do Science Fiction. This is a course I’d not taught myself before (even though I’d been mentored in another professor’s class), so I had to choose my own assignments, books, etc. for the class. Even though we had weekly Zoom meetings, I still had to set up the online class distribution platform (for us, it is Desire 2 Learn or D2L), upload any additional videos/PDFs, read the books for the class and make notes on them and then teach them–for 14 weeks straight. This was in addition to prepping my own Prospectus (outline of a dissertation) and then defending it towards the end of the semester. And all this doesn’t include the absolutely MASSIVE amount of email that I had to answer as we did classes remotely. Questions that might normally have been answered before or after class or in the Graduate Student Office, now had to be handled via email, so instead of answering 1-2 student emails per week, I was average 1-2 student emails per day/every other day. Multiply that times 2 (x2) as I was teaching two sections of the course–and well, now you see where the overwhelming majority of my time was spent each week.

As you can see–what would normally be a fairly average semester in-person ballooned to a massive amount of work to make sure everything was ready for class and I still ran into quite a few hitches along the way.

I’ve learned 2 things from this area: 1) try to get as much done and in place before school starts, so that most everything is ready and posted and all I have to do is make “course corrections” along the way. Technically, MTSU is closed this week for the holidays, but I’m already working on my syllabus and planning my schedule and assignments (while reading sources for my dissertation) with the goal of having 95% (or more) of the class uploaded to D2L by the time class starts, and 2) working on things in small increments. I’ve already done a blog post on this earlier this year, but will do another one again as I “re-learned” the lesson again during school.

Computer Keyboard

Thanks to Covid, I had to get a new computer this semester. It wasn’t that I wanted to, but that I had to. My first day of class was an absolute disaster as my Chromebook completely crashed trying to host my first class of the semester via Zoom. It was laggy and unplayable for the students and I had to end the session after about 11 minutes of trying to get students to hear me/see me. It was so bad that I had to use my phone for the 2nd class. I went looking for a computer that could handle Zoom and finally found one powerful enough to host a 20+ person Zoom call (which isn’t easy on a computer, btw).

However, this computer (that I will also be using for my dissertation), was a necessary expense between Zoom and my dissertation, but it’s keyboard isn’t the greatest. The key travel on it is a bit too shallow for the way I type and surprisingly enough, the Chromebook keyboard feels–if not better–at least lest “hard” when I hit the keys too hard. So, it is pretty hard to type on for extended periods of time–or at least it was. I now get a case for all my electronics and this was no different. With the case came an unexpected bonus–a keyboard cover that is has a soft “gell”-like coating. While the key travel is still “harsh,” the cover softens (most) of my keystrokes and I don’t feel the hardness of the keyboard with every keypress. However, the cover has its own problems: I can’t feel the keys the way I’d like and I end up with many more miskeys than I used to make, so I end up mis-typing something quite frequently and have to go back and erase it and then correct it, so my words-per-minute have gone WAAY down. And I was already a fairly slow typist to begin with. Also, because the “gell” doesn’t feel natural, I have to hold my fingers differently (high off the keyboard) and I find that my hands tire pretty quickly in this (unnatural) position.

What I’ve learned is that I work best on this computer when I limit myself to short sessions (for heavy typing sessions, at least–normal web-browsing tasks and other non-typing tasks are a dream). This is where working on things in small increments daily is going to pay dividends as it will allow me to get the things I need to do done, but without the dread of having long painful and fatiguing stints at the keyboard, typing until my fingers cramp up. This problem may be endemic to me as I have fairly long fingers, but I can tell you from experience (typing in feedback to 40 odd students’ papers) that if the keyboard doesn’t feel perfect for me, then any amount of typing that I need to do will be met with a certain amount of mental resistance on my part–I just can’t help it. Good keyboard travel is essential to a happy Sidney.

Conclusion

There are also other reasons why I didn’t blog, but I’m going to stop here. One of those reasons is the internal need that I have for a 5 paragraph essay structure (An introduction, 3 body paragraphs/topics/, and a conclusion). However, I’ve already been writing this blog post for an hour (1) and a 3 point would take at least another 15-20 minutes of drafting at my current typing speed. So, no, I’m stopping here (without the 3rd body paragraph/topic–although you’ve just gotten a preview of what it would have been).

Going forth, I will try to do better with the blog and blogging, but until Covid is much less of a thing (which I’m hoping will be true in 2021), I can’t make any promises. I’ve put other things in front of school before and payed the price. School has to be my primary goal–and if it sucks all the oxygen out of the air for other things that I want to do, then until I graduate, that’s just the price that I have to pay.

Thanks for listening!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (11/2020):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    Out to Market
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • A Spell in the Machine (Science Fantasy Story)
    Rewrite (Planning): In Progress 
  • Project Seas (Fantasy Story)
    Planning: Completed, Rough Draft: Completed, First Draft: In Progress
  • KnightWatch Graphic Novel (Fantasy Graphic Novel)
    Planning: In Progress

Missing in Action Video Games–The PlayStation Edition

Shigeru Miyamoto sitting with a black background in the back. A quote in white letters says, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/799459371338916598/

I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to call out one of my favorite YouTube channels, Eurogamer. I generally find the Eurogamer’s video game coverage, especially on their YouTube channel to be very fair and mostly unbiased. They have a love for all the systems and (generally speaking) don’t play favorites, although it often appears that PC is their platform of choice (and while not appearing on the channel a lot, I can tell the the Switch is near and dear to most of the team). However, what actually gets the views are the Playstation and X-Box games even though they generally are considered second-fiddle to the PC & Switch (Switch, while popular, doesn’t really seem to get the same level of views as PCs, Playstation, and X-Box.)

However, in one of their latest videos (of this writing), they focused on games that have been missing in action for a while. That’s not what got my dander up–it is good to point out games that have been announced, but not actually released, especially when that goes over the normal 2-3 year development cycle for most games. No, my problem is that Eurogamer chose games that were either X-Box/PC specific and completely left out several, super interesting games from the Playstation side. There is at least one game for the Playstation that have been missing in action for the ENTIRE 7 year life-cycle of the Playstation 4 and yet it didn’t receive a mention. Two games that are then ENTIRE reason that Microsoft (aka Micro$oft) bought Zenimax (the parent company of Bethesda, the game publisher) are EACH ON THE FREAKING LIST, taking up two slots. To imply these two games are “missing in action” is disingenuous at the least, and (if I’m not in a gracious mood), more of a marketing move than anything else. These two games ARE COMING OUT and they are coming out for the X-Box. Microsoft/Micro$oft bought the company for these two games! There is NO WAY that Microsoft/Micro$oft would have purchased this company had those two games been in distress.

So, this is my attempt to correct the imbalance and discuss some very intriguing games on the Playstation side that should have made the list and we, as customers, should inquire about at every opportunity.

Deep Down (2013, Capcom)

Yup, that’s right. This one is in the announcement stream for the Playstation 4, a full seven years ago. Now, normally when you don’t hear about a game for this long, it generally means it has been cancelled along the way. However, the last time the creator spoke about it, he specifically said that it wasn’t cancelled. I don’t believe there’s been any significant information since that last interview, but here we are–in the giddy honeymoon period for the Playstation 5 seven years later, and a game that was announced for the previous generation of game consoles STILL hasn’t been released. And this one wasn’t worthy of finding out more information on, but Elder Scrolls 6 was, even though E.S. 5 was ported to every major (and minor) system since its release (with the running joke that if Bethesda could find a way to port it to your refrigerator, they would).

Below is the trailer for the game, but in essence, it is a medieval role playing game that had some insanely impressive graphics (especially for 2013), but which still hold up decently well with 2019/2020 games. I’m not sure that it will hold up in 2-3 years time, so if Capcom does have plans of releasing this game, I would hope they do it fairly soon because, to me, in about 2-3 years graphics will have probably surpassed the innovations in the trailer and the game will need a graphical overhaul (which means more time and expense) for a game that is already 7 years late.

Deep Down YouTube Video

Biomutant (2017, Experiment 101)

This one is a particular “bug-a-boo” of mine. This game was shown off in 2017 and really seemed like a game right up my alley. I kept my eye on it and the preview coverage gave the impression that it was far along in development and that it would only be approximately another year/year and a half of normal development time before it would be released (generally games get preview coverage at the 1-2 year mark.) Sometimes, if development is particularly fraught, it often slips to 2.5 to 3 years after the game as been initially shown to the public for the first time. However, this has been (for the most part–especially where Sony is concerned–become less frequent due to fan backlash).

This game is post-apocalyptic game that takes a squirrel-like creature and pits it against the many different creatures to survive in this new post-apocalyptic world. Biomutant features an open world and a “kung-fu” weapon-based combat (martial arts and guns). I thought this one looked awesome and kept an eye on it as time passed and passed . . . and passed. And here here we are in 2020 and about to go into 2021, and so far, no Biomutant. This one has actually a bit of an update as the developers released a trailer (3rd, 4th, 5th) for the game in the middle of the year with a cheeky update that said the release date would be “when it’s ready.” Now, normally I don’t mind that sentiment as I would prefer a well made game rather than a rushed release (Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem I’m looking at you). However, I don’t believe that the developer should have shown their game that early–as it was an extensive gameplay demonstration. See for yourself and judge if what they showed looked like a polished game that was only a year or so out from release:

BioMutant YouTube Video

Project Awakening (2018, Cygames)

So, this is the game that I really thought that Eurogamer was going to cover in their video as this game caught the attention of the gaming public (although most of its thunder was undercut by Elden Ring–a game in the over-popular Souls-Born series that includes a collaboration with George R. R. Martin which is enough to make games media and gamers alike salivate.) However, for the brief time before the ER trailer was released, Project Awakening garnered massive amounts of attention and generated massive amounts of hype. This game is one that really resonated with many gamers–me included, especially after the success of Monster Hunter World.

Basically, this game’s video (linked below) puts me in my of a cross between Elden Ring and Monster Hunter World. However, it is the animation and textures that really set off this particular project and makes me think that it really could be an awesome game. However, like all trailers, I’m aware that it is something that is a project that is in-progress, but the idea of playing a fantasy warrior going up against fantasy monsters (without the “dark world”/”grim dark” that the Souls-Born games fall into).

Project Awakening YouTube Video

Final Thoughts

So, to be clear–these are not the only games out there that have been announced, but have gone MIA. These are just 3 that I’m interested in and want to know more about — I don’t need the entire development cycle, but having periodic updates would be nice (even a yearly/bi-yearly update would be helpful). I wanted to point these out as Eurogamer should have featured these three games in their roundup. Elden Ring, Starfield, and Elder Scrolls 6 aren’t really “M.I.A.” games (instead they are just games with popularity and internet cachet.) The latter 2 will eventually come out (and will have a sizable coverage on Microsoft’s/Micro$oft’s stage–as probably will Elden Ring knowing Micro$oft’s penchant for having “the MOST POPULAR” game series on their systems — the same Halo/Gears of War strategy that they’ve been using since the late Xbox/early Xbox 360 era). I had hoped that we would hear more about these games that I discussed earlier in this post during the 2020 Video Game Awards, but that wasn’t the case. Hopefully, in the upcoming year, we’ll get an update on all 3 of these games as I feel like each one has significant potential (especially over the hype-generating games that were originally covered the Eurogamer article).

Until next time!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (11/2020):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    Out to Market
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
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    Rewrite (Planning): In Progress 
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    Planning: Completed, Rough Draft: Completed, First Draft: In Progress
  • KnightWatch Graphic Novel (Fantasy Graphic Novel)
    Planning: In Progress

Mini-Movie Review: The Grinch (2018)

A picture of the Grinch (with green fur) drinking coffee and looking annoyed.
Image Source: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/grinch-2-review/

I’d planned on watching the animated/anime version of Ghost in the Shell last night as I had recently seen the live-action version with Scarlet Johannson. However, Netflix is scheduled to lose The Grinch shortly, so I decided to prioritize that movie and see it first before it left streaming. I’m not so sure that was a good choice as I really didn’t enjoy the movie. I hate to say it, but I’m going to get all “grinchy” on the movie, so if this movie is your favorite, you may want to pass on this review–you have been warned.

The Good

There’s not much that I liked from this version of the movie, if I’m honest. I did like the quality of the animation and I thought that the animation was of high quality. However, even the animation couldn’t distract me from the myriad of problems that I felt that this movie had. I also liked some of the musical selections. Sometimes I thought they were inventive arrangements of the old songs; the new, more hip-hop version of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” was mostly effective and at least, different, but I didn’t like the addition of new lyrics. It was best when they kept the old lyrics, but rearranged them in a new and different way. Also, I liked the character of Max. I thought they kept most of what made Max such an endearing character in the movie as both accomplice and loyal friend to the Grinch, but hated how they made him a “willing accomplice,” unlike the original version where he was decidedly perplexed by the Grinch’s anti-Christmas antics.

The Bad

Where do I even begin? There’s so much wrong here that it would take nearly a lifetime to catalog it all. While I did like some of the music, some of it was awful. I don’t mind rap, per se, but some of the music wasn’t even good and only had a tangental Christmas time theme made by the lyrics reference Santa Claus or the like. The music seemed forced to try to appeal “hip” to today’s youth (like a bad Christmas play updated for modern times), and I, personally, just didn’t like some of it. The aging up of Cindy Lou Who, which I understand was also done in Jim Carrey’s version, still didn’t sit well with me. One of the best things about that character is that wild-eyed wonder that she exhibits coming down the stairs and seeing Santa with the tree and being mollified by the “Grinchy Claus” answer. Aging her up takes away the wonder and majesty of being a child and not having to worry about “grown-up” problems. Again, in trying to modernize the story and have Cindy Lou carrying for her younger brothers and trying to help out her single parent mom, the writers give her a rationale for meeting “Grinchy Claus” that undermines their very intention (see the scene where her “friends”–don’t even get me started on them–are called “home” by their respective parental units as to how aging her up defeats the purpose of her believing in Santa Claus as a child with her acumen would known, or have guessed, the “Grinchy Claus'” identity. I could go on and on, but I’ll move on to the movie’s biggest sins.

The Ugly

Giving the Grinch a “backstory” is an admirable, but ultimately, futile endeavor that misses the mark. Having the Grinch’s heart be “two sizes too small” is ALL that’s needed. He doesn’t “feel” the way the Whos feel. His heart can’t express or comprehend joy the way they do, so giving him an “orphan” backstory seems pointless–except that all “modern” heroes/villains now need a backstory. So we get this “lonely child” archetype in a story that already has a reason for why the Grinch is the way he is. [Spoilers] Worse, this movie robs the Grinch of any agency–having a reindeer, who he befriended earlier in the movie and set free to see his family, is the catalyst for saving the day rather than his triumphant epiphany and the revelation that his heart grew “three sizes that day.” It is as if the writers actively hate the idea that understanding gives you abilities beyond the norm. Have they never witnessed a mother/father perform superhuman feats in defense/protection of their child. They would rather have one of the worst plot devices (Deus ex Machina–“God from a Machine”) ruin their ending rather than allow superhuman strength gained through wisdom and clarity of the human condition to rule the day. Finally, the ending where he brought the toys back and apologized was both cringe-worthy and unbelievable, even for a movie about the inherent goodness of people. When Cindy Lou questions her mother about who would be “sick” enough to steal Christmas when everyone comes into the town square, both she and her mother (and Cindy Lou’s friends) all display an awareness of evil and badness in the world that they willfully ignore at the end of the movie in order to have the “happy ending” the movie desires. The writers can’t have it both ways–if you’re aware of the evil, then you must address the evil. Or you could do like the original animated TV special did–not have the Whos acknowledge the evil in the world and carryon as if no evil had been perpetrated.

And I think this is what bothers me the most. Without denigrating the writers, it feels like they denigrated the original. Based on my perception of the movie, it felt as if they found the original lacking and set out to flesh it out, but in doing so, to me, made the original stand out all the more because the choices that were made in this one seemed to lower, rather than raise, the storytelling bar and detracted greatly from the experience.

Overall Rating: D (65)

Rating: 2 out of 5.

To say that I didn’t like this one would be an understatement. Sure, there are some funny moments and the animation is excellent. However, the changes made the story worse, not better, and in focusing on the loneliness idea and that lonely people are sad and miserable, completely missed the mark as to what Dr. Seuss was trying to get across: that Christmas really isn’t about the presents and traditions, even though that’s what it looks like to outsiders. Christmas is about the innate goodness that is inside all of us and the realization that, for at least one time every year (Christmas time), we all have the potential to be better versions of ourselves, if we but have the courage to both listen and to try.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (11/2020):

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Playstation 5

White and black PS5 console and controller.
Image Source: https://www.pocket-lint.com/games/reviews/playstation/154419-ps5-review-playstation-5

Wow! For someone who is so invested in Science Fiction (and Fantasy), I never realized how hard it would be to teach a “literature” class on the subject. I’d say 90% of my struggles are, of course, COVID-related as teaching virtually has a set of challenges that has really knocked me off course in terms of this blog. However, I do have an (unfinished) blog post about the difficulities of teaching during a pandemic still in “draft” mode, so I’ll “table” this discussion for another blog post.

I did want to use this time to briefly cover my experience with the Playstation 5, which I was lucky enough to pre-order and receive yesterday! Now, some of this is filtered through a 24 hour sinus infection that limited my time with the (oh so cool) device, so I’m looking forward to more playtime over this weekend to see how it stacks up and if it will be a good one (hint: I already think that it will be!)

Delivery and Set-Up

So, the system came before class time yesterday. Right after it came, I developed a sinus infection, but I think it was just coincidence and not from the driver or anything like that (we both wore masks). I sat the box down and went through the “student hours” portion of the class (an hour I set aside for students to log into D2L in order to asks questions, get help, or check on their grades), but no one did. Those hours usually fly by, but, of course, this time the hour dragged on (made worse by the incessant sinus pain and constant blowing of my nose).

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the hour was up and I turned my attention to the unopened Playstation 5 (PS5). Now, when the PS4 released, the delivery came late and my mother was already here, so she watched me unbox it and set everything up. I can’t remember if I actually got to play a game while she was over, but I do remember her being caught up the new console “hype.” However, this one came just before lunch, so after my “class” was over, I called her and asked her if she wanted me to wait to set it up or if she wanted me to go ahead, set it up, download any updates and then show her the games when she came over later in the evening. She said to go ahead and get everything set up and that’s what I did.

Most people are complaining about the PS5’s size, but really, until you put into your console, it isn’t that bad. Most people haven’t had a PS3 and in terms of weight and sheer heft, I’d say they are similar. Sure, the PS5 is taller (lengthwise), but when you’re handling it, there’s not really much difference between it and the PS3. My Entertainment unit is an “open” design, meaning that the shelves are very spacious and the top shelf is completely open to the room. I could put 3 PS5s on it and they still wouldn’t reach the (normal) ceiling, so as long as you aren’t trying to fit it into a small space, size isn’t really as much of a problem as reviewers are making it out to be–again, depending on the risers/overall configuration of your entertainment center.

System and Configuration

So, having had a Playstation for every generation (i.e., PS 1 – 5), I find the system software to be an “evolution” of the PS4’s system. It is different, but not so much that a PS4 player won’t be able to quickly and efficiently set up the system and have it ready to go quickly. For me, it took me a moment to figure out the stand, but that was because I assumed that one of the pieces went somewhere else and then had to refer to the Quick Start Guide to find out where it actually went. All in all, it took me 5 minutes total to install the stand. I had two small issues after that: 1) while the system recognized my Wi-fi password and looked like it was configured, something didn’t connect right and it didn’t get internet. A quick swapping out of my ethernet cable from the PS4 to the PS5 solved that issue. 2) Related to #1–I couldn’t sign in and that’s when I discovered the wi-fi issue. Once the ethernet cable was in, and it found the internet, signing in was a breeze. It took literally minutes to get the software downloaded, the games installed, and the options of the system configured the way that I wanted them. I was up and running in well under an hour (35-45 minutes). I was set-up so quickly that I decided to stop and go watch YouTube and wait on my mother before playing any of the games.

I purchased a few of the accessories, and before I ended the session, made sure they were all in working order. At first, I couldn’t get the headphones (optional accessory that doesn’t come with the system) to work, but that was “user error.” I’d mistaken the “mute” button for the on/off button. The on/off button is actually a different type of switch just a bit farther down on the left headphone, and once I realized that, connecting was a breeze! This time, I really did have to go looking for the instructions because the “push in/push out” button in my mind screamed on/off and I never would have figured that out.

Games and Controllers (DualSense)

Once my mother arrived, I showed her the system and she liked the aesthetics of it–she’s always thought it looked good and distinctive, in a modern way, which is a again, yet another criticism of the system. I then showed her the controller’s defining feature of haptic feedback by showing her Astro’s Playroom, a PS5 game built to show how the controller can showcase the idea of immersion through feel and touch. She was absolutely amazed by the look of the game and the way the controller buzzed, plopped, and shook to replicate the various actions on the screen. We then moved on to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (AC Odyssey) where we were both stunned by the graphical improvement on the game. I hadn’t been keeping up, so I don’t know if there was a PS5 upgrade to the game, but it sure seems like it. The colors were greatly improved (especially on the bushes) and everything seemed sharper and crisper–and this is on a 1080p set–but it definitely looked better from the PS4 version. We were both blown away by how good it seemed! Next, I showed her Bugsnax and Spider-Man Remastered. Those two games, while good, really are ones where you can see there brilliance later, so I didn’t play these too much. Finally, we finished off with Spider-Man Miles Morales and wow, from the very first moment, that game was amazing! It loaded quickly, and even on the title screen, you could see the texture of Miles’ hair, something that video games, while getting better and better each generation, traditionally struggle with in terms fidelity, but this was on-par with the best I’d seen. Then the gameplay kicked in and I was both playing the game, while at the same time passing the controller to my mother during cutscenes and transition scenes so that she, too, could experience the feeling of immersion in the controller. I played the first mission and by the end, we were both really hyped for what the console has to offer.

Right now, I’m working my way through Astrobot and AC Odyssey. I hope that once school is out (class is done next weekend before the Thanksgiving holiday–although some may take my “extension” for extra time on their project which will end the first week of December), I’ll be able to put significant time into Spider-Man Remastered and Spider-Man Miles Morales before moving on to other games on my backlog.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (11/2020):

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The Great “Game Pass” Caper (“Buying” Loyalty Through “Cheap” Games)

Techradar Don't Miss Xbox Game Pass. A Techradar badge with the words "Don't Miss" and two Giftcards shown--one for Game Pass and one for Xbox Live Gold
Image Source: https://www.techradar.com/news/cheap-game-pass-ultimate-deals-sales-prices-xbox

The Fiend:
Cherno: “Why does it [Dirt 5 for the Xbox Series X] look like the Halo game [Halo Infinite]?”
……. Phil Spencer: “Game Pass!”

I was talking with my mother today and telling her about how Microsoft has gotten back into the good graces of gamers with (essentially) a bribe: Game Pass. For those who don’t know, Game Pass is a program in which gamers pay a set fee ($9.99 per month is the most often quoted price) and gamers can play a number of games (usually including a fair number of “new” games) for this price. It is essentially “Netflix” for games. Gamers have gone “ga-ga” for Game Pass and I don’t really mean that as hyperbole. You ask any rational gamer about some aspect of the Microsoft ecosystem that has “holes” or isn’t “up to snuff” and suddenly their critical reasoning abilities go right out the window, and the only thing that comes out of their mouths is, “yes, but Game Pass, though.” This affliction is particularly pronounced with video game journalists, who really should know better, but who just can’t help themselves and lose all ethical standards and critical thinking ability the moment Microsoft is mentioned–because, like a Pavlovian response, the somewhere in the articles that journalist writes will be a mention of Game Pass–you can almost guarantee it at this point.

$9.99 a Month STILL Equals $120 per Year, Right?

The cost of Game Pass isn’t 9.99 per month, just as the cost of Netflix isn’t the $12.99 per month (standard configuration). We do things by year: yearly salary, yearly taxes, etc. So, it is a bit disingenuous when companies break down the price per month–but, this isn’t Microsoft’s fault. This is just something that is standard practice these days. You ARE paying just under $120 for this service. However, many, MANY people have this idea that Microsoft is doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.

NO! They are doing it as a “Marketing Tool.” They want to get back into the good graces of gamers after taking a beating for their draconian X-Box One policies during that console’s release. Game Pass is part of a two-prong strategy: 1) lure consumers in with low prices and 2) always have the most “powerful” console (power in their minds equating to the console with the largest numbers). They have other marketing strategies in play as well (Youtubers such as Austin Evans and Digital Foundry who they flew out to their offices to get a preview of the newest X-Box earlier this year–yeah, that’s not sketchy at all is it?). Don’t believe me? Well, in the words of Team Xbox – Infinite’s Facebook page: “Today on Xbox Wire, Microsoft revealed the full specs for Xbox Series X, and let Digital Foundry and Austin Evans take this powerful hardware for a test drive. The hardware used for these hands-on sessions isn’t the final model that will ship to retail, but Microsoft is clearly comfortable enough at this point to say this is what the Series X will be.” Source: https://www.facebook.com/1506098709611882/posts/today-on-xbox-wire-microsoft-revealed-the-full-specs-for-xbox-series-x-and-let-d/2526165077605235/. My point is that Game Pass is subsidized by Microsoft’s near monopoly on the PC Operating System market. Any PC that you get today that isn’t an Apple or a Chromebook has a licensed version of Windows running on it (Linux and the “other” operating systems don’t even factor into this discussion). While the PC manufacturer pays Microsoft directly to license it, the cost is most ASSUREDLY passed on to the consumer in the overall cost of the PC. Therefore, you’re not actually getting the value that you think you are–if you’re a PC owner–then you’ve paid Microsoft for Game Pass twice–once with your subscription to the service and once for the operating system on your PC.

Still think it is such a great and wonderful value?

Source: More Cherno: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSzUeoKtMHQ

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (10/2020):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    Out to Market
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  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
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  • KnightWatch Graphic Novel (Fantasy Graphic Novel)
    Drafting: 1st Draft (Issue 1)

Mini-Review: The Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen pulling a bow with an arrow nocked and ready to fire in a lush, green forest.
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. Source: https://www.deseret.com/2019/10/4/20898787/title-cover-art-hunger-games-prequel-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-suzanne-collins

Currently, the free streaming service IMDB TV has The Hunger Games Trilogy (Quadrilogy as it four movies?) streaming for free. Having read The Hunger Games multiple times, but missing this movie in the theaters and not seeing it when it was on streaming on Amazon (?) a while back, I decided to go ahead and see it before it left the service. I’m glad I did–I actually liked it and felt that it was a good representation of the book.

The Good

There’s a lot to like about this adaptation, but probably the most important thing is that the movie is that it stays true to the spirit of the book. It is a fairly faithful adaptation of the story. Yes, there are some changes to the script–some fairly major, like the ending which doesn’t quite happen as described in the book, but the spirit and essence is still there (probably because Suzanne Collins, the book’s author, was listed as a writer on the movie).

Another thing that I think is really good is the fact that the actors don’t overshadow the characters. That was something that I feared knowing who the actors are in the movie. However, I can see the characters in the movie and not the actors playing a role. This is often a problem for me with movies staring huge actors like Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen–I was able to enjoy several of the X-Men movies with Jennifer Lawrence, but the last one she was in, I could only see her as the actor and not the character. This movie, happily, doesn’t have that issue. I see Katniss Everdeen in Jennifer Lawrence’s performance and I feel she does a great job!

The Bad

About the only thing that I can think of that’s bad for the movie is the compression that has to take place to fit the book into a two hour time frame. I like that the movie didn’t split itself into two parts for each movie (yes, I know Mockingjay does, but I’m assuming that’s because it is a longer, more mature book as it acts as a conclusion to the trilogy). However, some scenes are (necessarily) modified so that some of Katniss‘ inner dialogue has been given to other characters in order to get at her emotions and/or exposition.

The Beautiful

So, this is the first movie mini-review that I’m going to do that does not use “the ugly” paradigm, but rather the “beautiful” paradigm as the movie is gorgeously shot. The cinematography is excellent and the mise-en-scene for the various shots and locations is masterful. While I still think that The Lord of the Rings movies have the best book-to-movie adaptations in recent memory, I do feel The Hunger Games is close behind. I really like both the authenticity of the movie as compared to the book, and I love the choices made, from acting, to locations, to set and costume design, to story construction for the movie.

Overall Rating: A (95)

Rating: 5 out of 5.

In case you can’t tell, I really liked this movie. I thought that it portrayed the book accurately and fairly and didn’t make major alterations to the story–just smaller, minor ones. I wish that we could have gotten some of the exposition and character moments in that we either had to cut or give lines to other characters more closely adhering to the book, but again, time constraints would have made that almost impossible. An “extended edition” could have alleviated some of my concerns, but considering that the movie is as good as it is, I think the producers and directors went for a “well enough approach.” My late uncle’s advice is currently ringing in my ears: “perfect is the enemy of good,” so that’s something I need to remember–this is a good movie and trying to make it perfect might have caused something to have been lost. This is a very good movie and I really enjoyed it!

Sidney

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Mini-Review: Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Video Game)

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_WbvIDAcA4

This mini-review is going to be a departure from the norm–I normally reserve mini-reviews for movies and I do video games either standalone or with the Video Game Log posts. However, I actually finished this game about a month ago this time (has it really been that long ago? Wow, time flies when I’m not actually blogging). I wanted to make sure I got my thoughts out on this game as 1) I have some issues with it and 2) Tomb Raider is one of my favorite “franchises” and it spans multiple mediums.

The Good

Surprisingly, there are some things that I liked about this game. Out of the “trilogy” of rebooted games, I think Rise of the Tomb Raider is the best, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the 2nd best, and the rebooted Tomb Raider is the worst of the lot. I’m glad they didn’t do the “living world” story as they did in the first game, but they did do an apocalyptic story-line in this last game and, while I thought it could have been done slightly better, I still felt this was a compelling plot device to get the story moving and to continue the tension throughout the game. I liked most of the characters and the hub worlds. I liked the graphics and some of the game-play elements (although some I did not like–which I’ll touch on in a moment). I feel like they development studio (which is different from the previous 2 games) tried hard and I could see what they were going for and, while I didn’t think that they ultimately reached their goal, I could at least see what they were trying to do.

The Bad

Ultimately, the first 2 games used the “real world” mythology as a jumping off point to set up a fantastical story which involves Lara Croft and her adventures, but it doesn’t necessarily stay in the “real world.” I felt that Shadow tried too hard to stick with the Mayan mythology that they used as they used it in pretty much every aspect of the game. From the story, the creation myth, the apocalyptic story arc driving the game, to the treasures and artifacts, to the conquistador story running throughout out the narrative, all of it was Mayan overload. The other two games knew when to leave Japanese and Judaeo-Christian myth and veer into fantasy, but because we know so much about the Mayan culture, I feel this was detriment to the creation of the story, rather than an aid to it as they stick to the various myths and gods rather than using them to tell an interesting story of redemption–which is what I feel they were trying to do.

I also didn’t really care for the way in they created a new character to act as a “love interest” for Jonah, Lara’s best friend. I’m not sure of how the original development studio intended it, but the long dramatic pauses of Rise and the bickering in both Rise and Shadow seemed to indicate Jonah (at least) has feeling for Lara. However, it felt like the way the new developers introduced the “forced” love interest, they couldn’t imagine Lara and Jonah together in any other context but “friends” because they are of two different races. Or to be more blunt, Lara would only date someone of her own race, not someone who’s stood by her again and again, and who (in the context of the stories the creators have told) would literally give his life to save her as his race doesn’t match hers. A grim bit of (probably unintentional) meta-commentary there on diversity in storytelling, and the limits thereof.

Lara Croft with a bow and arrow cocked and ready to shoot and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back in a bluish green jungle with branches, leaves and tree trunks all around her.

The Ugly

While the “ugly” should have probably been reserved for the above observation on the trilogy’s lackluster response to diversity, what really hindered my enjoyment of the game were some of the game play mechanics that this installment introduced. They were really annoying and frustrating; it was almost as if they were designed to hamper the game play experience.

Tomb Raider is known for its underwater sequences, but I have to say that I found the piranhas in this game to be an especially aggravating game play element. They swim around in packs and circle endlessly (never deviating from their scripted paths). The goal (as the player) is to hide in tall underwater grass (conveniently placed) as they pass and then to “sprint” away to the next clump of underwater grass–a sort of underwater stealth run. This is so boring, however. There’s no excitement and the only tension comes from the camera and not being able to see exactly where they are when they swim “behind” you. I hated this sequence so much that I didn’t do several optional missions because I saw that it involved piranhas.

Another game play mechanic that irked me was the fact that even though one earned high powered guns (shotguns, uzis, etc.) through the game’s in-game currency, there were a couple of optional (and story) missions that wouldn’t let you use them. They gave you a rationale in the story that was an off-handed comment that the people of this fairly sophisticated hidden town (many of whom had come there from the outside world) shouldn’t have to know about firearms.

I’m sorry–what? The vendors in this location are selling me the very weapons that they should never have to see or hear about to maintain their “innocence?” It doesn’t make any sense storywise, but more importantly, it let them craft fights that would have been fairly simple with guns that were nigh impossible with bow weapons. For example, one fight (which I knew was coming having played it and died once already), I equipped the maximum amount of arrows that I could carry, went in, survived 3 or 4 waves (maybe 5), but ran out of arrows and another wave came in and I was dead. As this was an optional mission, I just reloaded the save, left the area, and headed back to the main mission which was the final mission to end the game. Normally, I like to do as many side missions that I can before finishing the game to get my character as ready as possible (experience, weapons, gear, money/currency, whatever). I was so weary of this game and all of its annoyances, that I didn’t even bother to with this mission–I just went on to the final mission just so I could finish it and play something else.

Overall Rating: 75 (C)

Rating: 3 out of 5.

While I didn’t like the first Tomb Raider game (the reboot), I have to say this one is better–but not by much. This was a mediocre game with some really good elements, brought down by a lot of questionable game play mechanics and an insistence on realism in a game that isn’t about realism, but fantasy and adventure. The idea that Jonah was not an “appropriate” love interest for Lara was something that I feel was unfortunate, if unintentional, but sent the wrong message unfortunately about the way in which the character is ultimately viewed by her creators. All of these issues really affected my time with the game and ultimately, made me weary of the game and glad when it was over (and not in that excited glad way as I am for most games). This was more of a chore than a game, something that needs to be addressed before I purchase another one in the series.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (10/2020):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    Out to Market
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • KnightWatch Graphic Novel (Fantasy Graphic Novel)
    Drafting: 1st Draft (Issue 1)

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