Deus Ex and Fallout 3 have swapped spots for my #1 favorite game of all time over the past 24 years or so. No other game has taken the top seat on my list, for various reasons. Deus Ex was proudly at the #1 spot for several years, before Fallout 3 came out, and got me into that universe. That stole the #1 spot from Deus Ex for nearly a decade before I swapped them again, somewhat due to good prequels to Deus Ex and bad sequels to Fallout, but mainly because I kept coming back to Deus Ex and how that influenced me.

Dear reader, going into Baldur's Gate 3, I did not expect this battle between titans to change. How pleasantly surprised I was to find a game clearly cared for by EVERYONE on the end credits. Whether it is making me laugh out loud, rage in anger at the villains, or tear up thanks to powerful character arcs, this game had me hooked like NO OTHER GAME.

I still cannot wrap my head around how complex and interwoven the storyline is, and how it changes with your choices. Some critics may say the changes are not super significant. Well, maybe not on the surface, but countless times, my decisions in the past have echoed their way to the present, and I can be damned or blessed by my actions. But it doesn't stop the game from progressing. It is a wild thing to try to describe. Sometimes, you get a gut punch from life, and you really realize how important your friends and family are. That is this game. I have not played a game that has felt this human, ever before.

It took me an insane amount of hours to beat this game. I was THOROUGH. It may have taken me 200+ hours to beat this game, and every minute was worthwhile. I did every possible quest that I could, completed every companion arc, discovered every area I could find, and yes, I was a save scum POS lol. You can really play this game ANY WAY YOU WANT. The game will be YOUR experience. Similar to Deus Ex, this game encourages you to think outside the box, and seems positively RIDDLED with secrets, some of which may yet still lay undiscovered!!

This is the most REWARDING game I have ever played--you will not be disappointed!!

Can only do 5v5 max in a server now, what the hell?! Disappointing that this game seems specifically designed for competitive gaming. At least put a casual/custom mode in where we can have goofy fun with Counter-Strike, like all of the previous iterations. Went from being a #1 LAN game to a wet fart! Maybe an update will change this, someday...

Edgar Allan Poe's iconic works of horror have been seemingly very difficult to translate to the screen successfully, and this miniseries is another entry to the list of failures. Why can't we have a solid 1-to-1 adaptation?

At least to this viewer, the overall sense of boredom I experienced could be compared to the crushing loneliness felt by most of Poe's characters. A good portion of the series takes place in the decaying Usher home on a cul-de-sac in Suburbia, USA, with much of it framed as a confession by the Usher patriarch Roderick to the longtime private investigator C. Augustine Dupin on a pair of oversized leather chairs facing across from one another. Are you still awake, or did even reading that sentence put you to sleep? In flashbacks as Roderick tells his tale, we see the downfall of his family which includes his five children of various mothers and one twin sister. I cannot say that anything surprising happens, in fact it's all very telegraphed from the start.

It was perhaps a clever idea to craft a Poe Cinematic Universe, but I do not think as a whole that the entire project panned out to anything worthwhile. The speeches each of the primary characters give are incredibly long-winded and vapid, and we're not given any reason to care for any of the Ushers. Frequently, the scenes linger on for far too long. This miniseries could have benefited from either having 42-minute episodes, or having 2 less episodes, to cut to the meat of the story. I also am not sure how well the many flashbacks worked for the series, and to be frank I did not believe the Young Roderick's arch to get to the Old Roderick. All of the Usher children had a holier-than-thou mentality and I don't think any of the actors played their power dynamic with any interesting flair or unique touch. Some of them are LGBTQ+, some of them are BIPOC, all of them are kinky, all of them are vile.

Some spoilers: I liked the character of Verna, but the speech she gave to Lenore in the last episode seemed so corny and out of character. Verna is a demon, or Death personified, and finds it so interesting to give a deal with eventual killers via their pharmaceuticals. She is impressed at how many millions the Ushers have killed through their pills. But then she tells Lenore how many millions of lives her mom will save. If she can see into the future, like she says, she knows that her deal with the Ushers would kill millions. Why would she give a crap about Lenore's mom saving lives? Why would she care at all about Lenore? Is this supposed to humanize Verna? Is the series trying to humanize Death? Verna doesn't care about anyone else, in fact she doesn't seem to care at all. Such a lame turn of events. Additionally, the big self-aggrandizing speech at the end from Madeline Usher made me roll my eyes -- lots of blame pointed at The Consumer in this series. "C'mon, Roddy, we're gonna go down swinging until the very end!" Aww, such go-getters! And I called it right when it happened in the first episode: when Augustine mentions he has an informant inside the family that he needs to protect the identity of, but has the judge/stenographer strike that from the record, OF COURSE it was a bluff!! I cannot believe THAT got the family to tear each other apart. We find out near the end that there was no informant. Wow, really?

You would think that me, a fan of Poe and someone that believes that being a billionaire is not only immoral but should be illegal, would love a show like this depicting the bloody downfall of the rich and powerful. But this attempted adaptation of these iconic horror works into a Poe Cinematic Universe falls flat.

Incredible game, unlike anything I've experienced before--you are a detective suffering from potentially self-imposed amnesia in an unfamiliar world, and in this RPG, your traits are parts of your brain that interrupt your internal narrative, as you seek to get to the bottom of a murder. One of the few games I have played through more than once! Wild and compelling dialogue, insightful and painfully funny--a lot of reading, this is an experience which rewards thoroughness and embraces the weird.

One of the greatest games ever made!!

To me, I enjoyed seeing this perspective, after living through the Dubya era of America. There was a reasoning you could see going on behind Christian Bale's eyes that felt very real. He is really the reason to see the movie. He transformed into Dick Cheney. Not something most people would do willingly.

All that being said, I wondered really what purpose this movie serves. No right-winger that watches this will think Cheney was treated fairly, even though he was shown with some heart and a tenderness. And no left-winger that watches it will think that Cheney had any good reason to do what he did.

The purpose I came up with, is that it was a pretty good summary of the prequel to today's American politics-gone-mad. We thought things were crazy back then--how naive! But other than that, and Bale's performance, I'm not sure there's much else to pull.

If you liked McKay's The Big Short, you'll probably enjoy this, as I did! Just make sure you get more popcorn, because there's not much else to chew on with this film!

As a fan of Kurosawa prior to seeing it in 35mm (to my surprise!), I went in with high expectations and the film delivers on many occasions. The pace is meditative and methodical, as it weaves and foreshadows, following Dr. Yasumoto through his first assignment in a tough, under-funded clinic for the impoverished. His journey is earned, and while the film is three hours long, I felt intrigued by the subplots and storytelling style. I must admit, I did get a little confused at parts with a specific subplot, but that was resolved by reviewing with my comrades.

I very much appreciated the attention to detail, and what seemed to be an authentic look at what a doctor would do in that time and place. But what really compelled me to keep watching was Toshiro Mifune as Red Beard. He goes by Red Beard, because he says his name is too hard to pronounce--Kyojo Niide. It is a well-written introduction to that character, and how he relates to Dr. Yasumoto, played by Yuzo Kayama.

There is a big surprise before the Intermission that I was not expecting, and it was handled well. I was also struck by some of the scenes with Otoyo, who--without spoiling anything--ends up in the clinic. True cinematic magic.

Doubtless, this is a somber piece, but with a shining heart that triumphs in ways which might not be expected. Perhaps not the perfect introduction to Kurosawa, but it packs a sometimes brutal punch, so maybe it is...

Director Ben Wheatley and writer Amy Jump are doing something very unique here, something I haven't ever seen before, and take some filmmaking risks that ultimately pay off for a movie that is straightforward and yet deeply difficult to describe in detail. A black and white film set some time in the 1640's in the English countryside, we follow four deserters of their country's civil war who leave the battle behind and choose to seek respite at a pub across a field. Ingrained with superstition, fairy tales and folklore, their simple trip turns sharply strange, leaving the viewer disoriented in a constant state of unknowing, questioning the reality of the situation and feeling as helpless as the characters. I was impressed by the acting of each of the main characters, but particularly stunned by Reece Shearsmith as Whitehead. Powerful images, haunting scenes, and a brilliant soundtrack make this clever low budget folk horror movie stand out as a triumph of modern cinema. 

Easily 2017's best film thus far--if you are lucky enough to catch it on the big screen, you'll be in for a visual, frenetic treat that trips you up every time you think you know where you are being lead. Robert Pattinson is mesmerizing and unrecognizable, as he fully immerses himself as Connie, but I was most surprised by Ben Safdie's performance as Connie's brother--and the thick, wild arpeggios of the synth score. This film feels alive, and I look forward to seeing it again.

EARLY ACCESS REVIEW:

By far the best Early Access Steam game I've ever played. This game is gorgeous, and simply exploring the vast expanse of Canadian wilderness becomes a main driving point as every new cabin or site you discover is like some sort of picturesque painting. I've amassed a considerable screenshot collection, utilizing the handy HD Screenshot (Hud Disabled) hotkey. The beauty is enchanting, but also deadly--which is another great aspect of this game. No zombies or otherworldly threat. Just nature's bites--the cold and the wolves. Those damn wolves...

Surviving is a great challenge in either starting point, making each decision important since it is life or death with every hour that passes. A lot of games tout "Survival" as a selling point, but none have managed to really be an enjoyable experience to me until I played The Long Dark. I think the dev team have managed to strike a near-perfect balance of challenge and reward. Note that I've only played this on the standard diffuclty level--I've heard that the hardest difficulty adds more wolves... I'm confident they will change that and challenge the player some other way, as the wolves are notorious pricks in this game. Like I mentioned, however, I think standard strikes a great balance and has been a lot of fun.

Be aware that there is currently no narrative story mode--Sandbox mode alone is worth the price during a sale. Throughout the play, you'll encounter hints as to what the story may be... I've had a lot of fun with the minimalism of it all, and to see that sense of mystery last so long is impressive. I still haven't explored every last bit of the lands yet, and now they are going to double the size of the explorable terrain! So, I'll just leave off with that--I'm impressed with this game!!

I didn't even really like the first one, but the co-op is a hell of a fun time, so I figured I'd give this one a shot, too. Got to Chapter 3 with a friend online, had to retire for the evening, and have not been able to join each other's room since.

"Connection to the game you have tried to join could not be established."

The story is bland, and much shorter than the original. The characters are two-dimensional and uninteresting. The villain is unbelievably ridiculous. And while the graphics do look stunning, if you take a closer look at pretty much anything, you start to see shoddiness--some static props are floating, flowers don't blow in the wind, etc. Really, the only thing going for this game was the co-op gameplay. The actual fighting of zombies is a challenge and feels like a life-or-death situation, no matter how pimped-out your weapons are. It's very intense and enjoyable. If only the programming bugs would let me get to that point. I'm just fortunate that I experienced these issues before buying the game, thanks to a free weekend of Steam. This headache is not worth money.