Play, Read, Watch

What I'm Playing: The Banner Saga: Factions by Stoic. Due to a lack of that one green currency (what's it call, mooney? Marney?), I'm unable to foot the steep $25 bill for the full game and thus therefore content myself with the free multiplayer version. I think it's become clear to me, over the past twelve hours of gameplay, that strategy games really aren't my thing. I think my brain keeps attempting to formulate some kinda narrative, where there maybe shouldn't be one. The Viking aesthetics and the hand-drawn artwork, though, are such that I'm constantly drawn back in. And then my ass is constantly whooped by far superior players. Never mind that, however – what they lack in valor and battlefield acumen, my Vikings more than compensate for with fulfilling character arcs, epithets and three-dimensional personalities.

What I'm Reading: The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel. A strange selection, coming from an avowed lover of genre fiction, but, thanks to my recent hiring at Inka Collective, it's become my task to read and review the book as well as view and review the upcoming film. This one's an especially dry one, though. I'm plugging through as best I can, but I cannot shake the feeling that perhaps the 17 pages on the history of the hometown one of the book's 19 protagonists came from is maybe, perhaps, a little overkill. I'll be glad to put this one behind me. (Relatedly, check out my review for August: Osage County!)

What I'm Watching: Luther by Neil Cross. You know, I think I may have a thing for gritty, scripted-based cop dramas. It's a thin line to foxtrot upon; doing a case of the week procedural without becoming CSI, but something about Luther works for me. Elba's performance is spot-on, of course, the writing comes and goes, but the general conceit of the beleaguered police detective drowning in casework that only continues to pile up, that weary, dogged determination to keep solving cases without becoming self-righteous, really appeals to me. The second series has started to go pear-shaped, as it's introduced the, I think, fourth serial killer? Third? And, beyond Alice Morgan, I really don't think the show needs another.

Tune in tomorrow for more Worldblogger!

Input Update

What I'm Reading: The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. Interesting post-cyberpunk, but insanely inaccessible. Reads very much like Transmet, with all the humor, perversion and fun filed off, if you can still imagine Transmet under those conditions. It's effectively a very simple tale, complicatedly told, which is my very favorite format; a woman breaks a thief out of prison to commit a crime for her shady employers. Sounds simple, but add in enough quantum mechanics, sentient AI, nanotech foglets, identity pirates and bizarre, otherwordly tech, the novel becomes surprisingly difficult to swallow. The story's certainly picking up, but initially, I was somewhat moonstruck.

What I'm Listening To: Boss Wave, by Xilent. I'm on the record as disliking dubstep, but I actually find that opinion softening somewhat, in my old age. There's a certain undeniable energy to the genre that I'm finding a useful inspiration for my late-night writing binges and far be it from me to deny what works. This track, in particular, has a nice retro wave to tide me over and I'm far from ready to divebomb into Skrillex just yet.

What I'm Watching: Last Exile by Gonzo, I guess? As stated on this blog previously, anime is also incredibly hit-or-miss for me and Last Exile, a WWII-esque zeppelin drama, is precisely the correct amount of straight-faced fantasy for me to click into. It's far from the greatest thing I've ever feasted my eyes upon (for some reason, this series' version of Captain Emo McDarkPast is particularly grating on me), but I'm interested in the aesthetic and the ask-no-questions nature of the worldbuilding. Plus, the missus likes it, which is always a plus.

What I'm Playing: Fractal, by Cipher Prime. Puzzle games, especially when devoid of narrative, are typically my anathema, but the visual aesthetic here is so gorgeous I couldn't resist. When I purchased the Bundle containing this one, I assumed it'd be my least favorite but, with the shitty gameplay of Organ Trail, the forgettability of Stealth Bastard and the pretentious bullshit of Aquaria, I find that its, in fact, devoured more of my time than any of the previous three.

What I'm Playing

I realize now, considering the amount of video game content I consume, this should really be its own category and, especially under the diametric tutelage of Zero Punctuation and Extra Credits, I'm beginning to appreciate interactive media as an art form more and more.

Here, in short, then, is a rundown of the games I've lately been playing (coinciding, notably, with a recent Humble Bundle.)

Awesomenauts: Selected as a vehicle through which to play co-op with the missus, Awesomenauts is mindless, if somewhat tepid, fun. Devoid, more or less, of any narrative worth or even mechanical innovation, the game's cartoonish art style, basic capture-the-flag mechanics and humor that seems to try a little too hard combine to create something akin to Super Smash Brothers on an enjoyability level, but devoid of even that simple game's sophistication. A stronger adherence to the 1980's cartoon aesthetic they were reaching towards might help negate some of the game's forgetability.

Capsized: Despite its simple premise and handful of inherent bugs, Capsized is a surprisingly rewarding experience. The bizarre textured art style is really separated from and complimented by the simple story; an astronaut crashes on a savage alien planet and must secure some means of escape for himself and his crew. With a startlingly sophisticated series of weapons and mechanics at your disposal, from jetpacks to gravity hooks to nanite technology, Capsized, while remaining inside its humble shell as a sidescrolling 2D platformer is ultimately better designed than you might imagine. Recommended.

Dear Esther: As contentious as this game was and as much of an experience as playing it really evolves into, I cannot say, unsurprisingly, that I enjoyed it. I won't go much further into detail than that (as I know the missus, who's currently playing, will doubtlessly read this), but while the game wasn't precisely my cup of tea, I'm absolutely fascinated by the prospect of taking games in this direction and would heartily encourage everyone to play it, to have their boundaries shaken somewhat. Recommended.

Thomas Was Alone: Probably my overall favorite of the four, Thomas Was Alone deeply, intuitively, profoundly understand minimalism, a virtue the mainstream video games industry sorely lacks. On top of beautiful UI, deceptively artistic design and wonderful voice acting, Thomas Was Alone, as its most impressive feature, a wedding of story and mechanics. That said, the personification the game manages to evoke from its incredibly lifeless characters is maybe even more astounding than that. All that said, the game's far from perfect – much of the game seems to be plotless puzzles, barricades between the player and the story and the story itself, frankly, dawdles in places it might not need to, but it's as innovative as one could hope and damn artistic in the process. Recommended.