PAX West 2016: Day 3 Hands-On Experience

September 5, 2016

There’s no great way to talk about the chaos and beauty that is a large Con like PAX. You could try to review everything you saw and you’d still fall short or forget something. That being said, I want to talk about the games I did get to play at PAX West 2016. There are some awesome games coming in the near future and you, my lovely fans, need to hear about them.

Day One
Day Two

By day three of my PAX Extravaganza, things were getting pretty dire. Restaurants in and around the convention center were low on food, booths were out of swag, and Twitch was handing out deodorant because we are all disgusting. The first morning, hopes ran high with the promise of games but by day three, gamers were filled with desperation to finish seeing everything PAX had to offer. (Spoiler alert: most people, myself included, failed.)

Antihero (Versus Evil: PC, Mobile)

Once I realized that Antihero was made by the same people behind Guild of Dungeoneering, I knew I was in for a treat. With the same art style and devious sense of humor, Antihero follows you as the leader of a thieves guild in a turn of the century London setting. Essentially, you act as the gang leader Jacob Frye WISHED to be in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Like Guild of Dungeoneering, Antihero is turn-based, giving your guild leader a few moves each turn to spy on buildings around town, dispatching urchins and thugs to gain gold and influence. However, there’s a rival guild leader who wants you to move off his turf and you have to use your child labor and Daniel Day-Lewis-looking characters to gain intel and blackmail against this leader and claim victory. Antihero is an incredibly fun game you could sit and play for twenty minutes or two hours, and I eagerly await its release in the future.

The American Dream (Samurai Punk: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR – 2017)

Last year at PAX I had my first experience with Virtual Reality technology. It was simple enough: put on this headset, walk two feet, pick up items, look around, walk in circles, end game. In the span of a year, the technology has improved by leaps and bounds, so much so that it only took Samurai Punk around three months to put together The American Dream. The American Dream is a VR game that imagines what life would be like if humans used guns instead of their hands, set in what felt like a pre-bombs Fallout universe. Need to get mom’s attention from the other room? Don’t call her name! Pop off a few pistol rounds into the wall. Someone asks you to choose between whole or skim milk? Shoot the one you want. For as limited as the game is in its current state, the one overriding thought in my very liberal brain was, “Mother of God, it feels so satisfying to shoot these guns in VR.”

Of course, the satisfaction was short-lived once the game required me to drive a car with guns and then the motion sickness set in. I’ve always worried about motion sickness with VR and The American Dream proved that’s a real fear. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the demo due to the sickness, but I imagine it was similar to what I had already played, which, in terms of gameplay, wasn’t too much. Just lots of shooting. It was cool to look around the room and see all the details, to load magazines in my pistols like Lara Freaking Croft, but ultimately it does feel like a spectacle that lasts a few minutes and fades. It’s a fun concept and I’m eager to see the technology grow, but for now, it does ring a bit hollow.

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (Mimimi Productions: PC, XBox One, PS4 – Late 2016)

Stealth games are not my forte. As much as I wish I was good at games like Dishonored, Styx: Master of Shadows, or Mark of the Ninja, I’m really, really not. So when I was approached to try Shadow Tactics, I was initially hesitant. Not because it looked like a bad game–in fact, it looked like a stealth Baldur’s Gate–but because I didn’t want to prove how bad I was at stealth games in front of an audience. I did, however, concede to playing and I’ll be honest, I’m glad I did. Shadow Tactics is an isometic stealth game that utilizes one of six multiple characters each equipped with unique skillsets to complete missions. The mission I played allowed me to use two of these characters in tandem to complete an assassination. Each mission can completed in several different ways and it’s not just a matter of finishing the mission, but then also escaping the area after (which is the most challenging portion). Shadow Tactics requires you to make use of your surroundings, pay attention to NPCs who can give away your position, and save constantly because you’re bound to muck up a kill attempt. It took me a lot longer to complete the demo mission than I care to admit, but for those who are good at and enjoy stealth games, I can see Shadow Tactics being a solid entry into the genre.

Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space!? (Daylight Studios: PC – Late 2016)

Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! is much more my style of game. Like Antihero, it’s riddled with good humor, potato humor, and I didn’t know that was a thing I needed so badly in my life. Holy Potatoes follows Cassie and Fay in a sequel to Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop!? as they journey through space to save the life of Grandfather Jiji. As the protagonists, you’re required to manage your space crew and your ship, upgrading weapons, shields, and the ship’s jacuzzi. It’s a roguelike adventure game where you travel from planet to planet, looting goodies, fighting other ships, and capturing “Potamon.” Battles are also turn-based where you try to destroy the enemy’s ship before they turn you into fossil fuel. The humor is what stands out in Holy Potatoes (I had no idea someone could make so many potato-related puns) but the gameplay is simple enough for pretty much anyone to pick up and enjoy.

State of Mind (Daedalic Entertainment: PC, Xbox One, PS4 – 2017)

I didn’t play a lot of narrative games at PAX, mostly because I like going into story-heavy games blind, but also because there just weren’t a lot of them there. State of Mind was one of a few available. In the game you play as Richard Nolan, a man who has just been the victim of the technology he loathes. His mind and memories were uploaded to a cloud-based system and now he, the human part in this equation, is forced to try to remember what went wrong in his life. On top of this, there’s another man, Adam, who figures into the dilemma. Where Richard’s life is in shambles, Adam’s life is perfect. Together, the two must figure out what’s become of their lost memories. Having not played much of the game and still not understanding much of the narrative, I’d guess that State of Mind is meant to challenge our dependence on technology as well as question what we think is our reality versus what actually is. It’s an interesting concept that makes good use of a low-poly art style (the shards of memories seen the shards of the character design, and so on), but I’d have to play more of the game to give a better description of the game. That being said, unlike the trend we’ve seen in narrative-focused games, State of Mind WILL NOT be released in episodes. Instead, it will all release all at once and I, for one, am grateful for that act by the developers.

SMASH+GRAB (United Front Games: PC – 2016)

From the people behind Sleeping Dogs comes SMASH+GRAB, an intense underground team battle focused on looting, killing, and causing mayhem set in a dystopian world. It’s a PvP game that pits three players against one another to see which team can rack up $50k in goods first. As the player, you choose your character based on class–ranged, fighter, or support–and then also your lieutenant, as well as a smaller group of three thugs to round out your party. Essentially, it works out like three groups of five-man parties and those parties fight to the death over money and objectives. As the match progresses, more looting options unlock, including department stores and box drops that are loaded with cash and weapon upgrades.

When I played my first match in SMASH+GRAB, I chose a ranged character armed with a nail gun, and I’ll admit, I was kind of disheartened by the gameplay. Usually I choose a ranged class because I’m a coward who doesn’t want to be in the thick of the action. However, the thick of the action is where the fun is in SMASH+GRAB and once I played as a melee character, it was a completely different game, much more fun and exciting. I never realized how much it was to beat an enemies face in with an ice claw hammer until I played SMASH+GRAB. Even if you lose the match, you still get experience points toward the character you played and account as a whole; these are used to upgrade appearance, weapon choices, and other aspects of the gameplay. And in case you aren’t good at the game like me, you can practice against AI bots to get the hang of the objective-based combat. SMASH+GRAB has a closed beta coming up soon and after that releases into early access on Steam.

Since most of these games I’ve covered the past three days have yet to fully release into the wild, stay tuned for more reviews and gameplay discussion.

PAX West 2016: Day 2 Hands-On Experience

Jen Stayrook

September 4, 2016

If you missed Day one, go check it out.

Day two of PAX West was a more indie affair and you know what? I prefer it that way. The indie games almost always end up being my favorite because they’re allowed to innovate more and make the games they want to make. Without further ado, in no particular order, here are the games I played day two at PAX West 2016:

Mages of Mystralia (Borealys Games: PC – 2017)

Remember Magicka? Remember how much you enjoyed combining spells in Magicka? Well, Mages of Mystralia takes that enjoyment and ramps it up to ten. Instead of memorizing spell patterns like you do in Magicka, in MoM you craft tour spells to your liking. Want your fire spell to rain down on enemies? You got it. Want to create a barrier spell that also makes a decoy of your character? Easy. Unlike in Magicka where you, ahem, me, constantly mash the wrong sequence of spells and inadvertently kill your friends, in MoM, the spells are bound to one key. I don’t know much else about the game itself but the magic creation has me interested enough to want to delve further into the game.

Bleed 2 (Bootdisk Revolution: PC – 2017)

I’ve never played the original Bleed. In fact, I’d never even heard of it until my saunter around the Indie Megabooth. The art style and bright pink hair of the protagonist caught my eye and soon after, I was hooked. Unlike some of the other games in the genre, Bleed 2 is a smooth twin-stick shooter. It wants you to play the game quickly, blasting away enemies and jumping from area to area as fast as your brain and fingers allow. Everything about it felt intuitive and fun. This game went from a “Sure, I’ll try it” to “when can I have this game, is it right now?” in about two minutes.

Crest (Eat Create Sleep: PC – 2017)

Crest is a God simulator unlike any other I’ve played. Instead of directing your ever faithful servants to build a church or a wonder, you give them simple commandments and they are left to interpret those commandments as they, the AI, sees fit. If you tell them to produce food, they decide whether they want to farm, hunt, or steal food. These commandments are the only way to communicate with your people and once you’ve made one, you can’t take it back and be like, “No, no. That’s not what I meant.” Without getting too critical, it’s a fascinating concept that challenges how we view religion as a whole and what our respective “God” might have intended. It’s still very early in development and as such, still needs some expanding in the mid and late game, but for now, I’m optimistic about Crest.

Hob (Runic Games: PS4, PC – 2017)

Hob is a Zelda-esque puzzle platformer, gorgeously put together in an open world space. You spend your time going through the world, unlocking different regions, killing enemies, and cutting grass. (See? Zelda-esque.) Helping Hob through these quests is his oddly adorable mech hand that is upgraded as the game progresses. There’s a grappling hook, a blink ability, and a whole lot more. The puzzles themselves aren’t too difficult, but the real challenge comes from the platforming in a 3D world. I struggle as it is with 2D distance, so I was constantly biting it by overshooting my mark. I don’t think this is a flaw of the game; I’m just bad at video games. Once you solve the puzzles, the world in Hob shifts, much like Fez or Monument Valley. Hob was the most polished of the games I played day two and I’m ridiculously excited to try it out in full at a later date.

Tunnels & Trolls (MetaArcade – Late 2016)

Tunnels & Trolls from MetaArcade is deceptively simple. It’s a mobile game that tells stories set in the T&T worlds (similar to Dungeons & Dragons) and you play as a character navigating through these stories, trying desperately to make it out alive. It’s a narrative, first and foremost, but it’s also an RPG, meaning your characters skills will determine life or death. Well, that and the roll of the die. As someone who doesn’t get to D&D as much as she wants, a game like Tunnels & Trolls definitely tickles my fancy. It’s still very much in the early stages but with a little polish and expansion, it could be great.

Severed (Drinkbox Studios: Wii U, 3DS, PS Vita, iOS)

The great thing about indie games is how they actively make use of their platforms in innovative ways. I’ve had touch screens for years but rarely have games managed to utilize that technology in a compelling way outside of managing inventory and maps. Severed uses that touch screen and the stylus for attacking and it’s done well. A first person action-adventure game, Severed follows you as the protagonist, trapped in an unknown world and corrupted with a darkness that allows you to sever body parts off enemies for new abilities. It’s equal parts creepy and depressing. While I wish there had been more to explore in each room (there was a lot of emptiness), Severed definitely has a theme of loss that it treads nicely.

And there you have it! Day two is a wrap. Stay tuned for the third and final day of PAX West 2016.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 3 Releases This November

Bilal Mian

September 3, 2016

Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 3 finally has a release date!

Announced during the Telltale panel at PAX West 2016, the third season of the much anticipated series, titled The Walking Dead – A New Frontier, will premiere this November on consoles, PC/Mac, and mobile platforms. A special ‘Season Pass Disc’ for consoles, which will include the premiere episode for the third season, as well as access to all subsequent episodes in the five episode season for download as they become available.

Players will be able to take control of series newcomer Javier who is described as “a man struggling to keep his family together in the new world.” The Walking Dead favorite, Clementine, will also be returning as a playable character who is “now a teenage survivor holding secrets of her past while fighting to protect family of her own.”

“This third new season will serve as both a continuation of what’s come before in our story, as well as an all-new beginning set nearly four years after the outbreak events of Season One,” said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “As a harrowing and horrific drama, ‘A New Frontier‘ will explore beyond what it means to survive in a world ravaged by the undead, and will see our characters confronting the new rules of order and justice in a land being brutally reclaimed and rediscovered by what’s left of humanity itself.”

“When we began this series, we explored what it meant to protect a character like Clementine at all costs,” said Kevin Boyle, Executive Producer on the series. “Years later, meeting her for the first time, Javier will begin to unravel the mystery of who Clementine has become, as her story intersects with his – both of them still driven by the things they value most long after society’s collapse.”

‘The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier’ will be available this November.

PAX West 2016: Day 1 Hands-on Experience

Jen Stayrook

September 3, 2016

There’s no great way to talk about the chaos and beauty that is a large Con like PAX. You could try to review everything you saw and you’d still fall short or forget something. That being said, I want to talk about the games I did get to play my first day at PAX West 2016. There are some awesome games coming in the near future and you, my lovely fans, need to hear about them.

In no particular order, I give you, the games I played day one:

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games: PS4 – February 28, 2017)

I have been excited about HZD since it first debuted at E3 two years ago. Female protagonist, dystopian society, science fiction, open-world, and animals I can TAME? Oh, baby. It calls to me. That being said, the demo at PAX West was nothing new. It was the same portion we saw this year at E3 and I felt for the poor guy playing that reel 30 times a day. However, I did get to play an, albeit small, demo of the game. Nothing exciting: take out a few watchers, tame a beast, ride into the sunset. It looks great, feels unique, but not obtusely so. In fact, the thing I noticed first was how easy it was to play. Maybe it’s because I’ve watched the demos so much but even without a tutorial, HZD was comfortably intuitive. Not nearly as convoluted as I first imagined. Crafting was also a breeze. I have to say, for now, I am excited for this game to release.

Gears of War 4 (Microsoft Studios: Xbox One, PC- October 11, 2016)

I only played horde mode for Gears of War 4 and it was, well, guys, it was Gears of War. I don’t really know what else you want from me here. Have you played horde mode before? It’s that. There’s the Fabricator, allowing you to builds tricks and traps against your Locust Horde foes, but this time you can build them anywhere, leading to shenanigans like my teammates building a barrier in front a freaking cover spot, but whatever. I’m not bitter about that wasted money. There are new classes you can choose from: Engineer, Heavy, Scout, Sniper, and Soldier. Mostly everyone picked Soldier because that’s what they are used to. What I DID like, however, was that each character wasn’t tied to a certain class. Want a team of Reynas, each with a different class? Have at it, tiger. All in all, good bloody fun for the whole family. It’s Gears. I’m not really worried.

Crashlands (Butterscotch Shenanigans: PC, iOS, Android)

Now we’re getting into the stuff I love, the indie games. Crashlands is a sandbox crafting game full of dirty humor and sci-fi goodies. If you like exploration, base building, and 2-D design, you’ll probably like Crashlands. It’s still in the early stages but the thing I love most about Crashlands is what they haven’t released yet: Crashlands Creator. The developers have in the works a web-based creator that utilizes all of the Crashlands assets for you to RPG Maker your way into creating your own game or level or just an outpost. (Or own version of Macbeth.) You can then upload and share those designs with friends on the internet and across any platform. It’s Super Mario Maker but without all the hassle of Nintendo locking you down. Crashlands is great fun and I’m excited to see what the future holds for them. I’ll have more to say about this game in the future, so keep your eyes peeled.

Owlboy (D-pad Studio: PC – Fall 2016)

I fell in love with Owlboy the moment I saw it. The nostalgia, the art, the music! I was drawn to its sweet appeal and I’m honestly heartbroken I didn’t have more time to spend with it. Everything played well and I wish I had more to say about this game but the only thing I want is to play more of it.

Dungeon Boss (Big Fish Games: iOS, Android)

Dungeon Boss is a mobile game and if you know anything about me, you know that I almost never play mobile games. Pokémon Go and Fallout Shelter are anomalies that get played for a week and put down in favor of console or PC games. Dungeon Boss will probably go the same way for me, to be honest. That doesn’t make it a bad game. It’s got cute art style, an easy learning curve, and replayability. I’ve played a ton of mobile games that just want you to die so you have to spend real money to play more. I didn’t get that vibe from Dungeon Boss so it’s got that going for it. I’m just not sure I’m the game’s target audience.

Vikings: Wolves of Midgard (Kalypso: PC, Xbox, PS4 – 2017)

Vikings is a Diablo-esque game that takes place a Norse setting. The story seems so-so thus far, village destroyed, you get revenge, you know the drill. It isn’t quite open-world but given the action RPG genre, I think that’s actually better. The controls handle well (even if I despise the PS4 controller) and the cooldowns for attacks are just long enough to create challenge but still short enough to combo attacks together. There’s a cool survival mechanic to consider with the frigid cold in the world, which I enjoyed and the skills are set up in a way that reminds me of FFX’s sphere grid. Skills are gained by sacrificing to certain Norse deities, which is a cool little world building tidbit.

Urban Empire (Kalypso: PC – Winter 2016)

I went into my session with Kalypso expecting to fall in love with Vikings and then be meh on Urban Empire, but once I started playing UE, it was a completely different story. I gave into the game’s siren call, pulling me under, only to realize 45 minutes later that I wasn’t at home sitting at my desk in my underwear but instead, I was at PAX and had an audience watching me play ~~God~~ mayor over my humble (and overly taxed) town. UE is part city builder, part turn-based strategy, and I love it. Some of the politicizing seems intentionally obtuse and at the whim of the AI, but damn if I don’t want to master it.

Mirage: Arcane Warfare (Torn Banner: PC)

Mirage was probably the least polished of the games I played my first day at PAX. It was in alpha, so that’s to be expected. If you’ve played Chivalry: Medieval Warfare then you know what to expect with Mirage. I mean, you know precisely what to expect because it plays exactly like Chivalry, just with magic spells. It’s six a side and you do your best to capture points or escort cargo or whatever it is the random map tells you to do, all the while hoping your attacks go off sometime within five minutes of pressing the key. After a few rounds, I got the hang of the system, but I’ll be honest: I found myself wishing for the polish of Overwatch or at the least, a sprint button.

Badass Hero (Awesome Games Studio – 2017)

I play a ton of roguelike games. I’m not very good at any of them, but I play a ton. Badass Hero is a twin-stick shooter, platformer, roguelike game that throws you into the role of the Badass Hero, a comic book hero making his way through the pages of his book, battling enemies and dying a lot. If you’re me. Overall it played like I expected from the kind of game that combined so many genres, except that BH had one flaw that kept me from fully immersing myself into the game: because of its twin-stick shooter nature, the jump button was the left trigger. I understand the why but the how of it left me feeling confused and dying a whole more than if jump had been the “A” button. I’ll give BH another try at a later date because I think it deserves it, but for now, I’m left wanting.

There are a few games that were at PAX this year that I have already played and still I feel are worth mentioning because I’m a kiss ass and I want them to love me:

Stonehearth (Radiant Entertainment)

An adorable city builder with lots of style and character.

Mekazoo (The Good Mood Creators)

A cool platforming experience that utilizes different animals and has amazing music.

Masquerada (Witching Hour Studios)

A gorgeous looking RPG that reminds me so much of Dragon Age: Origins it hurts.

Stardew Valley (Concerned Ape)

I LOVE THIS GAME ITS MY FAVORITE.

Check back later for my impressions from days two and three of PAX West 2016.

‘Dark Matter’: Android Identity Crisis in “Take the Shot”

Jen Stayrook

September 2, 2016

This week on #DarkMatter: Android gets more kisses; the Diagnostic returns; Three gets sentimental.

Spoilers through Dark Matter 210: “Take the Shot.”

Ooooooooo are we at the infamous betrayal yet, Dark Matter? I can smell it coming. I don’t think the Android’s actions in this week’s episode, “Take the Shot,” constitute a betrayal, but I definitely think we’ve been setting up for one for a long time coming.

(I swear, if it’s not Four at this point, I will be SHOCKED.)

Two and Five Quarrel

I’ve mentioned how much I love Two and Five’s relationship, right? Good. Because it’s amazing. I love the mentorship, the strength, and most importantly, the honesty. This week in “Take the Shot”, their relationship is definitely tested. When the Android tells the truth about her dream and then the diagnostic, Five is forced to fess up about deleting the diagnostic’s data files. Though, in Five’s defense, they were immediately imprisoned after that and then One died and then they were almost killed like 18 times, so you can see how that tidbit slipped her mind.

Two isn’t as trusting of the Android’s flaws and she agrees with the Android’s decision to shut her down for the time being. This leads to a confrontation between Two and Five:

Two: “The fact is, we cannot afford to have an android that makes mistakes.”
Five: “No one on this ship is in a position to criticize.”
Two: “It’s only temporary. At least until we can figure this out.”
Five: “What if there’s nothing to figure out? What if this is just the way she is? If we delete her personality matrix and start over, that’s the same as killing her!”

Much like Kaylee in Firefly, the Raza goes as Five goes. She is the heart of the ship, the one who leads ultimately leads the crew back the best versions of themselves. That’s not to say she’s without mistakes, but her heart is in the right place and it’s that heart Two puts her trust in when she willingly risks her life to save the crew, the Android, and the Raza.

It’s a Mad, Mad World

The basic premise of “Take the Shot” feels oddly familiar, not quite a rip-off of previous arcs, but similar enough that it made me question whether or not I’d already seen it. Two, Three, and Four all suffer from psychotic episodes due to their neural links which have been infected by the virus on the Raza. All three are faced with regrets, but Two and Four rue the ones they didn’t kill which Three laments the one he couldn’t save. What beauty.

Two and Four both have visions of revenge and their realities take dark turns when they are faced with their respective home worlds. Four battles Misaki from Zairon and loses while Two is captured by Rook’s scientists, intent on finishing the job.

Oddly enough, it’s Three who has the gentler hallucination. Given his history of late, I shouldn’t even be surprised, but still, I’m shocked when the gruff Three shows a softer side. Sarah appears in his room and despite knowing she died, despite not remembering their romance, he caves and lets her coax him into putting a gun to his head.

What’s most interesting to me about this sequence is that Three does eventually pull the trigger on himself, only Six is there to tackle him, thereby preventing the deadly blow. However, later in the episode when Two directs Three to “Take the shot” that would kill the Android, he hesitates. He reminds himself over and over that she is “just a machine”, but ultimately he’s relieved he doesn’t have to go through with it.

He loves the Android, the big softie.

The Android’s Existential Journey

The real heart of this week’s episode is about the Android and whether or not she wants to remain loyal the crew of the Raza or to herself. When Nyx and Three take the Android back to her charging station, she tells them that if faced with what would essentially be her death, she’d rather be allowed to go her own way off the Raza. Nyx and Three are understandably confused by this bout of humanity from the Android and I have no doubt this later influences Three when he is asked to kill her.

Back on the charging station, the Android goes back to her dream world with Victor and they discuss her future. The Android is clearly distressed by the possibility of a life without the crew of the Raza:

Victor: “Your crew will never fully accept you for who you are. Sooner or later, they will turn against you.”
Android: (With tears in her eyes) “They’re my friends.”
Victor: “I’m a voice inside your own head. You already know it’s true.”

And yet, because of the diagnostic, she knows that she’s not the android she should be and also not quite human. Being torn between the two worlds causes her to linger with Victor a little longer. With dream Victor, she doesn’t have to make a decision right away. Ultimately, the real world and the diagnostic’s treachery come crashing down and the Android is forced to choose.

And she chooses the Raza over her own independence.

But even at the end of it all, she recognizes her faults and instead of feeling guilty for them, she accepts them and makes it known to the crew:

Android: “I should warn you: although I’ll do my very best, I can’t guarantee I won’t make another mistake.”
Two: “You’re our ship’s Android, and we need you.”

It’s IMPOSSIBLE not to love the Android.

The Descent of Four

After his face-off with Misaki and then keeping the neural implant from “Old Ryo”, it’s pretty clear some bad things are about to happen with Four, right? Unlike the Android, Four hasn’t outwardly owned up to his guilt about Zairon. It haunts him in the same way that Misaki did during his hallucination. He knows he left his home planet to die in a long and bitter war and without the memories of who to trust, he can’t, in good faith, take back his crown.

But now he has those memories.

Maybe he’ll leave a video log for himself, detailing the “New Ryo” and his way of life, his kinder side, but I imagine Four is about to leave the crew of the Raza. Maybe even for good.

Random Thoughts

That ending felt a smidge too easy, no? I mean, by all accounts, Two should be dead and I still don’t fully understand the virus thing, but instead it’s all wiped away and Two is just unconscious for a bit because her nanites protected her? Don’t get me wrong, I’m GLAD she’s alive, but it all wrapped about a bit too nicely for the world of Dark Matter.

That can’t possibly be the end of Victor and his group of Androids, can it? It seems way too important in the world to just ignore.

I think I’m starting to see some of the issues people have with Dark Matter. I LOVE the Raza and its crew but we’re watching a sci-fi show and I want to see the different planets and cultures. I want the technology and the ridiculous glasses that Three wears. I want to understand the differences between the corporations and not just lump them all into one bad entity.

That being said, I loved this episode. I love any episode that explores the Android’s humanity.

Dark Matter airs Fridays on Syfy at 10pm.

In the ‘Killjoys’ Season 2 Finale The Real Enemy is Revealed

Nicole C

September 2, 2016

Killjoys
Season 2, Episode 10: “How To Kill Friends and Influence People”
Air Date: September 2, 2016

So many emotions were felt tonight on the season 2 finale of Syfy’s Killjoys where we finally learned what Khlyen has been up to since the very beginning. Spoiler alert, he’s not really the bad guy after all and that honor goes to his insane daughter and Dutch look-a-like, Aneela.

While we haven’t met her in the flesh yet, we have seen snippets of her through Dutch’s dreams, which still has me believing that they are more deeply connected to each other somehow, in a manner that even Khlyen doesn’t know.

We did discover that Dutch’s former mentor had accidentally found the plasma while researching a way to feed his starving people on Arkyn many years ago. The plants he was testing and growing seemed to thrive on the stuff and so the scientists in his lab ate the fruit from those plants, including his Aneela. Some people grew sick and as he studied it more, he saw that the plasma was taking over it’s host on a cellular level, later on discovering that when inhabiting a human host the plasma became sentient. Khlyen explains that in the early days the pairing was imperfect and so some of them like himself retained a sense of themselves, while others like Aneela became insane and completely taken over. He goes on to tell Dutch that there are no 6’s that are children because their minds cannot handle the transition process.

Centuries ago his people came to the Quad and offered the ancestors of the Nine a deal, either accept eventual assimilation or immediate annihilation. Their descendants had ten generations to suck the wealth out of the Quad before the handover to honor that deal. What they’ve been seeing in Old Town is the beginning of that deal. Khlyen’s people are coming back to create more level 6 soldiers through the plasma from Arkyn. A large part of their operation centers on moving from sector to sector to where there are caches of plasma in order to add to their ranks. I suppose there is no way for them to naturally reproduce for baby 6’s to exist and so they have to just create more (kind of like Borg assimilation). I wonder if the plasma’s biological directive is to spread itself like a virus and is using its hosts to carry out that mission.

Khlyen though has gone rogue and is fighting against his own kind because he thought that he could redeem himself by through Dutch, who looked so much like Aneela. While he failed his real daughter, he would not fail her. So every cruelty he’d done had been to train and prepare her for what was coming. Initially he thought he could transition her into a 6 but have her survive via the scarred traumatic experiences. Screwed up way of thinking, but I get it. He wanted Dutch to be strong enough to one day kill Aneela if necessary.

On Lucy he reveals his plan to Team Awesome Force and Fancy. He’s developed a substance that could poison the plasma and save the Quad. When three Black Root agents show up looking for him, Khlyen shoots them with poison darts and a few moments later they begin to vomit plasma which then turns from bright green to black. His idea is to find a source of pure plasma and poison it so that all the plasma on Arkyn would also get ruined. He believed that achieving this would stop his people from invading the Quad because they would have no reason to come anymore.

With help from an ancient Scarback text that showed a star map, the team discovers a system where Aneela had hidden a source of pure plasma that had originally come from Arkyn. It is a tree living in a pool of green goop, the very same that the monks had worshiped and stolen from the moon many years ago. Khlyen’s daughter hid it in a floating facility called the Archive where the wealthy and elite have been storing their treasures for eons. They hatch a mission to infiltrate and get access to Aneela’s vault with Dutch reclaiming her old identity as Yalena Yardeen, the scion of a once wealthy family.

Dutch goes into the facility with Khlyen, Fancy and D’Avin and meets with the custodian, played by Lost Girl alum Richard Howland. He played the fae Blood King, Fitzpatrick “Trick” McCorrigan. Only Khlyen accompanies her to open an Archive account, which involves a blood sample for DNA identification. In the lobby area things take a violent turn when Fancy and D’Av are attacked by the guards (whom they beat) and then the duo heads downstairs into the lower levels to attach a device that would allow Lucy access to Archive’s computer system. After Dutch gives her blood sample Lucy change the genome id for Aneela’s vault to the killjoy’s.

The custodian though knows something’s up with Khlyen and Dutch and calls in his goons. The two defeat the squad of men but are unable to do anything to the leader because killing him would trigger a very large explosion. The former student and teacher head off in search of Aneela’s vault and manages to find it, but just their luck it is orbiting near a sun. This apparently is the pricey highly secure gold package. Dutch accidentally trips a security features which nearly results in the two of them burning to death. They try adding Khlyen’s toxin but it doesn’t seem to work on the green pool. Freaking out, she asks Johnny what to do and he says that from Lucy’s analysis of the black gunk earlier, they have to poison a 6 first and then use that corrupted plasma to taint the pure source. So without hesitation, Khlyen injects himself and explains that he failed to protect Aneela from herself and so this was his penance. Apparently she and others like her used the lab in Red 17 to increase the plasma bond and make people into slaves. They share an incredibly emotional moment as he finally lets his guard down and says that when he saw her he had a chance to make things right. When Dutch angrily says that he was going to force her to change as well he explains that originally yes because he wanted to keep her with him and did what he did so that she would be able to survive the process. But D’Av provided a third option and now he can set her free.

He also reveals that Aneela’s goal is to conquer the whole universe and that while they are poisoning this plasma source there are others in the J. A teary Dutch says she’s not ready to let him go and he starts reciting the story he used to tell her as child. Their plan works and all the plasma on Arkyn turns black just as it did in the source.

After Khlyen’s death, Dutch talks to D’Av and Fancy (who is now back to his regular self) at the Royale and proposes that they take the fight to Aneela herself to honor the deaths of the people they’ve lost. The episode ends with Johnny sneaking away after shooting Delle Seyah as revenge for Pawter’s death. Lucy calls up Clara to keep her favorite killjoy company and the audience is left with a sense of new possibilities as these two go off to new places and Dutch and D’Av (with Fancy maybe?) go in search of Aneela and her people to kick their ass.

Season 2 was great storytelling as our characters encountered one difficult situation after another and the stakes continued to be raised week after week. While it was unfortunate that each member of Team Awesome Force had to deal with the loss of someone they cared about, it only made them stronger and hopefully strengthened their bonds to each other (even though Johnny is distancing himself right now for safety’s sake). And while the Killjoys universe expanded a bit this season out of the Quad, I’m looking forward to meeting a whole new set of characters in Khlyen’s people and of course the enigmatic Aneela at last. We’ll finally see for ourselves how insane and evil she really is. Also I hope they explain what the military really did to D’Av that he’s become the plasma whisperer. Luckily we’ll have the chance to find out as Syfy has renewed the show for a season 3.

Favorite Moments:

D’Avin using Fancy as a human shield
Khlyen and the custodian having a nice calm chat while Dutch is fighting
Johnny and Lucy’s super fancy flying against the Black Root ships
Khlyen and Dutch’s final scene as he dies in her arms
Fancy becoming human again after the plasma in him deactivates
Johnny shooting Delle Seyah in Old Town (will she live?)
Lucy refusing to let Johnny off the ship without saying good bye
Lucy calling Clara up to keep Johnny company on his new journey

Lastly here’s a little something from the Killjoys team to get us through hiatus until next season:

We’re kind of excited for the season finale of #killjoys tonight.

A video posted by Killjoys (@killjoys) on Sep 2, 2016 at 8:40am PDT

Killjoys airs Fridays on Syfy at 9/8 central.

Images courtesy of Syfy.

Camp Stillwater Diaries: The Forgotten Counselors

Alyssa Berkowitz

September 2, 2016

While this season of Dead of Summer showed viewers what Camp Stillwater was like for the counselors who were main characters, the story of the other counselors have yet to be told. These are the experiences from Camp Stillwater as told by the forgotten counselors.

(And if you want to get caught up on all the happenings at Camp Stillwater, check out my reviews.)

Eliot’s Journal

June 27- First day of Camp

Well, today was my first day as a counselor at Camp Stillwater and it was awesome to meet the kids. It was weird though, apparently a group of counselors came up early to help the Camp Director, Deb Carpenter, set up camp. There are actually a few of us who were not asked to help set up. Maybe that is why Ms. Carpenter had us carry all of the campers’ bags while the others stood around with clipboards, because they had spent the previous few days doing so much heavy lifting. Actually, now that I think about it, only the counselors that came up early are in charge of a bunk. The rest of us all share a separate cabin with no campers in it. Our main job is to watch the campers when those other counselors are off doing their own thing. I don’t mind it though; I would rather spend time with the kids during the day than have to deal with them being home sick at night. Woohoo! I can’t wait for this to be the best summer ever.

June 29- (Day 3)

Yesterday was so crazy I didn’t even get to write in my journal. A ton of things happened. First, a kid went missing in the woods and the local cops had to come to help find him. We were just hanging out in our ‘counselor only’ cabin and only realized what was going on when we saw the lights on the police car. Then, this morning, Blotter (one of the ‘Chosen Counselors’) as we in the Counselor Cabin are now calling them get fired because he was tripping acid when the kid went missing. None of us even found out about it until we got to breakfast this morning. Good riddance, I say! If you walk around camp with a baby bottle and make people call you Blotter, you should not be taking care of kids. You would think Ms. Carpenter would have moved one of us into Cabin 10 to help Alex out, but she didn’t. I guess Alex will have to handle those campers all by himself. I am fine with that because there is a cute redhead named Becky in the Counselor Cabin who I am hitting it off with. So the closer I am to her the better. But there is also this weird guy who calls himself ‘Fisherman Joe.’ I am pretty sure he only brought one pair of pants to camp, fisherman overalls, and only ever wears the same Camp Stillwater shirt. I am not even sure he brought a shirt of his own and he just expected the camp to give him a free one. How weird is that! Also, me and the boys snuck into Blotter’s cabin and found a ton of weed he left behind. And man, it is good shit.

Becky’s Diary

July 1- (Day 5)

So tonight’s movie night and I just found out that Deb is giving some of the Chosen Counselor’s the night off. I don’t understand why they get the night off and we aren’t even given the option. I mean, one of their own was just fired and they get a reward? What are we, chopped liver? But the only thing to do around here is to go to the shitty local townie bar, so it is not like we are missing out. Also, Eliot stole the weed from that Blotter kid so we have plenty to do here. Speaking of Eliot, he is going to be at movie night so there would be no reason for me to go into town anyway. Eliot is so amazing and cute. I am so happy we got to share a bunk without any campers! This really is the best summer ever.

July 3- (Day 7)

Yesterday, while playing beach volleyball with the campers one of the Chosen Counselors, Amy, got struck by lightning. It was so scary. Me and Mel had to spend the rest of the night calming down the campers because the Chosen Counselors spent the night together in their staff lounge. We still aren’t allowed in the lounge. I heard they have a phone in there. But the craziest part is Amy was fine! She came back to camp this morning and we are having a masquerade dance tonight to celebrate it. I still can’t decide what to wear, I want to make sure it is something that will impress Eliot.

Fisherman Joe’s Diary

July 4- (Day 8)

Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate the great U.S of A., Deb planned a whole camp-wide camping trip. I love the outdoors so much. Since I am certified in first aid Deb designated me as the nurse for the trip.

Deb is the coolest, she lets me do so many things. I even get to run the fishing program at camp. Sadly no campers have come to the activity yet, but I have faith that they will! She also let me try my hand at landscaping the other day because she doesn’t have a groundskeeper. I got to plant plants and trim bushes!

I am learning so much at Camp Stillwater.

Mel’s Diary

July 5- (Day 9)

Last night on the camping trip, Cricket died. I heard that she fell into a bear trap. It is just so sad, the entire time we were hiking she was warning us about those bear traps. Since Deb cancelled all of the activities today and all of the Chosen Counselors are grieving together, we are responsible for the campers. I don’t know how to explain to them what happened. Do I pretend everything is okay and laugh and play with them? Do I just let them cry? I wish that there was an adult here to tell me what to do! I am so glad I have Johnny here to help me through it though. Last night, after the campers went to bed we went off and we went all the way. It was magical, but it is scary to think that we could have accidentally fallen into a bear trap and died. I know I have only known him for 9 days, but I think I am in love.

Johnny’s Journal

July 7- (Day 11)

Woohoo COLOR WAR TIME! BLUE IS GONNA WIN! Is it weird to be celebrating color wars just two days after Cricket died? I mean we have to lift everyone’s spirits up somehow right? We can’t let something like that ruin our whole summer. It also gave me a reason to “console” Mel if you know what I mean.

She is getting a bit clingy, I hope she doesn’t think this is serious. I’m at camp. I am here to have fun. I don’t need a relationship! Also, Eliot told me he saw the sheriff handing out walkie-talkies to all of the Chosen Counselors. I wonder what that is about?

Eliot’s Journal

July 8- (Day 12)

We just found out today is the last day of camp. Apparently last night satanic worshipers were running around camp and killed the town’s sheriff . You want you know how I found out about this? FROM A CAMPER! Deb didn’t even have the courtesy of tell us that a) There was a murder on campgrounds and b) that camp was closing. No, because of course she only told her precious Chosen Counselors who in turn told their campers who in turn told us! The bus isn’t coming to pick the campers up until tomorrow but we in the Counselor Cabin have decided enough is enough. We are not waiting until tomorrow to leave, we are leaving today. Johnny found the keys to Deb’s truck and we are all going to pile in the back, drive to the bus station and leave it there. I bet they won’t even realize we have left. This camp is a shit hole, but at least I left with an awesome group of new friends.

And that is how everyone in the Stillwater Counselor Cabin left camp alive and lived happily ever after. THE END.

Pull It Together Episode 3: Marvel Madness

Jen Stayrook

September 1, 2016

Welcome to Pull It Together, a weekly podcast where Terence and Rob discuss their weekly pull list, their favorite current arc, and the current state of the comic book industry.

This week (8/31/2016) on Pull It Together: In this week’s pull, the boys went strictly Marvel! Terrence claims that one release this week is the BEST ISSUE OF THE YEAR! Rob proclaims his love for all things Spider-man and is still talking about “clean lines.” Enjoy!

Comics pulled this week:

Rob:
Amazing Spider-Man #17
Spider-Gwen #11
Spider-Man #7
Silver Surfer #6

Terence:
Silver Surfer #6
Han Solo #3
Uncanny Avengers #13

Make sure to follow us on Twitter: @TheWorkprint
Terence: @ErrantBachelor
Rob: @Sunnyvice20

‘Super Mario Maker’ is coming to Nintendo 3DS

Chris White

September 1, 2016

Today, during a brand new Nintendo Direct, Nintendo has announced that they are bringing Super Mario Maker to the Nintendo 3DS. The features of the 3DS version are listed as:

Enjoy a nearly limitless supply of side-scrolling 2D Mario™ courses anytime, anywhere.
Take on 100 built-in courses as you tackle the Super Mario Challenge.
Create the Super Mario™ courses of your dreams!
Play recommended courses from the Super Mario Maker™ game on the Wii U™ console and take on that game’s 100 Mario Challenge.*
Share courses with other players via the StreetPass™ feature and local wireless.**
For the first time ever, collaborate to make special shared courses.

Adding the ability to share levels via StreetPass is an amazing idea. Also, “for the first time ever” collaborate on making courses sounds like you could possibly connect (local or online, not confirmed) and build a course with a friend(s). The best news of all, the game is scheduled for release on December 2nd! You can view more about the game on the official website.

Super Mario Maker is one of the great gems available on the Wii U and bringing it to the 3DS is a no brainer! Are you excited about Mario Maker on the Go? What features do you hope to see? Let us know in the comments.

‘Dead of Summer’ Review: “She Talks to Angels”

Alyssa Berkowitz

September 1, 2016

Dead of Summer
Season 1, Episode 10: “She Talks to Angels”
Tuesday, August 30, 2016

**** This post contains spoilers for ‘Dead of Summer’ through Episode 1o “She Talks to Angels” ****

If you told me that I would be emotionally invested in Dead of Summer after watching the pilot ten weeks ago, I would have laughed in your face. I walked away from the pilot being like “Well I committed to reviewing the show so I guess I’ll keep watching.” And I am so happy that I did because I enjoyed this season immensely. “She Talks to Angels” was the perfect way to end the first season of Dead of Summer. I didn’t even care that only two of the sixteen questions I had entering this finale were answered.

Onto the Episode:

The episode starts out moments after the previous one ended. Actually I have no idea how long is has been because Amy had the time to clean all the blood off her body, clean the blood from the floor, hide the two bodies she just butchered and change her clothes before heading outside to meet Garrett, Jessie and Alex. What I know for certain is that the episode starts off the same night as the previous one.

Amy emerges from the cabin and they pile into Garrett’s car to drive the hell away from Lake Stillwater. Only Garrett’s car breaks down a few minutes into their escape when they are stopped by the Storybrook town line that now surrounds the camp.

Amy turns around with jet black eyes and tells Jessie that Holyoke hid the last piece of his soul inside of her. Now the only way for Amy to leave is for her to destroy the horcrux.

Alex Dumb Comment #1

Alex: “No no no. We killed the demon, remember? We saved you Amy.”

Amy drops the facade that she was evil just because she was possessed and reveals her true nature to the others. Jessie and Amy are both locked inside this Camp Stillwater cage and the only way out is for one of them to die. Amy has even recruited all of the counselors she killed over the summer to create a Zombie Army. It is here that the trio decide to run away.

They run straight into Amy’s cabin and try to regroup but get distracted when blood starts to drip onto Alex’s face. The three of them look up to see a bloody body hanging from the rafters and then find Deb’s body hanging off a hook.

Alex dumb comment #2

Alex: (upon seeing Deb’s dead body) “She’s dead. They’re all dead”

Alex you are so useless I can’t even handle it.

Garrett tries to reassure the group that they are fine, but as he does, Amy jumps in through the window like a bat out of hell. Just like an episode of Scooby Doo, the crew skiddadles away from the villain.

Once they get to the woods, Garrett has to stop because a shard of glass embedded itself into his abdomen due to Amy’s grand entrance. He takes a seat on a bench, the Braces and Townie bench. Jessie doesn’t want to leave him but Garrett insists:

Garrett: “Jessie, you don’t have a choice. If you die, everyone dies. This is bigger than us. We’re a team remember. I’ll meet up with you, I promise.”

Nooooo! Garrett I used to think you were annoying but now I love you and don’t want you to die! And, at the the same exact place the pair had their first kiss seven years prior, Jessie kisses Garrett goodbye and runs off with Alex to save the world. Oh man, I didn’t think that this finale would make me cry. I really didn’t. But it is starting guys.

After running around the woods and avoiding all the bear traps the pair stops to catch their breath. Alex says his first useful thing of the night by suggesting they come up with a plan. He is not smart enough to create said plan though. Jessie, the brains, brawn, and beauty of this duo, decides that they need to go back to Holyokes cabin. As they head out she sees a tetherball pole in the distance. Except instead of a ball hanging from the pole it is Blotters head!!!! He blurts out “you’re going to die” and follows it up with a maniacal laugh.

They zoinks off again and finally arrive at Holyoke’s cabin to get them some pure lake water. They realize that the basin of water is no longer pure when they see it boiling up with red hot Malphas blood.

Alex Dumb Comment #3

Alex: “No, no, no, no. This water was pure!”

The water became tainted as soon as Jessie made the mistake of opening the cabin door earlier that evening. Amy was humoring them into thinking they killed Malphas by having Jessie “sacrifice” herself. (The answer to one of the questions I had going into the finale).

Over at the Bus Station

Drew and Blair have unloaded the campers. They hug and rejoice that the horror of the summer is now over, but Anton interrupts their celebration. (HI ANTON I MISSED YOU)

He tells them that it is not over and they need to go back and help the others. Anton then gets into the passenger seat of a car that drives off. Who is he driving off with? Better question, where did all of the other campers go? How did they get home? Did they just hitch a ride with random people at the bus station? Do the parents of these kids even know that they are coming home? These are mysteries that I have accepted will never be answered.

One mystery that is solved (somewhat) was my question of if we would get a Blair backstory:

Blair’s backstory:

One day after school Cricket stopped by Blair’s house to find him scrubbing off the word “HOMO” off his car. Being the amazing friend that she is, she pulls out the “Emergency Blair Peanut Butter Cup” that she keeps in her bag for whenever Blair needs a pick me up.She tells Blair that he will never be alone because he will always have her and they are going on a road trip to see Bowie after camp:

Blair: “It’s gonna be me and you forever isn’t it”
Cricket: “Pretty much. I hate to break it to you, but you’re stuck with me.”

No I am not crying, these tears in my eyes are from an onion OKAY!

Back to the present, Blair tries to call the camp to see if anyone is still alive, but the line is busy. They decide that if Anton says the others need help they probably do. So the pair call the State Police to let them know there is probably an axe murder on the loose at Camp Stillwater and then head back to save their friends.

Back at Camp Stillwater

Jessie and Alex hear the police sirens as a cop comes on the loudspeaker saying it is safe to come out. But this is just a trick. Amy has already killed all the cops. So when the pair emerge they are greeted yet again by Amy. And yet again, they run away into the woods.

Alex suggests they hide but Jessie knows that is a stupid idea. Before she knows it though they are surrounded by Amy and her Stillwater Zombies, including a handless headless Blotter. (Did we ever learn why they chopped off Blotter’s hand?)

Alex tells Jessie to run and save herself while he holds the Zombies off with his grandfather’s pocket knife. While I appreciate Alex’s gesture, this highlights his utter stupidity. He is about to fight a demonic psychopath wielding an axe with a measly pocket knife. It would have been more helpful if he ran in the opposite direction to lead them away from Jessie because he ends up getting killed in less than 10 seconds.

Jessie runs to the showers and Amy follows suit. Amy asks Jessie to play a rendition of Marco Polo, called Jessie Tyler. She kicks and axes down all of the stall doors while calling out Jessie, but hears no Tyler in return. Amy is getting annoyed and frustrated that Jessie isn’t playing along.

Amy: “It’s no fun if you don’t play Jessie. Where’s your camp spirit.”

Next she accuses Jessie of cheating. Wait, I’m sorry Amy, were there actual rules to this game? After hearing the door of the bathroom close, Amy heads outside. Turns out, Jessie somehow found her way up to the rafters of the bathroom and hid there during this joyful game of “Jessie Tyler.”

Once she is sure Amy is gone she bolts out of the bathroom and runs into Garrett, Blair and Drew. Jessie has had enough of Amy’s nonsense and decides it is time for her to take control

Jessie: “Amy wants to play games? Let’s play games.”

And that game is to lure Amy into the staff lounge and surround her with purified water Jessie had saved in her canteen. I cannot think of a more apt location for this battle royale to occur.

Jessie: “Who’s in the cage now.”

Every time I watched this scene I mentally inserted a “bitch” at the end.

Amy laughs saying that she has desecrated everything that could destroy her. And when Sykes tries to play the wax music they realize she tainted that too. That is when Garrett remembers that Joel’s camcorder was on when the music was playing at some point. When he plays the recording over the walkie Amy and her Stillwater Zombie Army fall to the ground in pain.

Jessie then grabs Amy’s axe and drives it straight into Amy’s head to end this whole nightmare.

Amy’s blood gets sucked backed into the canteen and the spirits inside of Jessie go back into the lake and turn it back to not blood red.

It is over. Jessie has saved the world.

The next morning, Jessie et al walk down to the lake and see the dead counselors descend into the water. It is peaceful. It is calm. It is like a perfect send off for the fallen counselors (and Deb).

A Few Months Later
Jessie is attending Northwestern. Blair took Drew with him to see that Bowie concert in Seattle. Camp Stillwater is for sale.

Final Thoughts:

One of my favorite things about this season was the role reversal between Jessie and Amy. Amy started out as the innocent one. The one who wanted to keep the peace, who wanted to be everyone’s friend. The one who liked being with the campers and wanted to help whenever she could. Jessie on the other hand only cared about boys and protecting herself. She lied about her grandmother’s death just so she could keep Amy away from Garrett. She threatened to out Drew to the entire camp. But then slowly something happened. Jessie started connecting with people. Caring about people and Amy, she was still just going with the flow. And by the end the roles were completely reversed. It was Jessie who had the light. It was Jessie who was destined to be the savior.

That is not to say that the show as a whole was perfect. Throughout the season I have been clear about the issues I have had with the show. There are certain plot points, which are crucial to the story, that do not make sense. Amy being able to clean herself up and hide the bodies while Garrett and the others are waiting…. Makes no sense. Amy being able to get away and kill Cricket… makes no sense. I also feel like there were many plot points that were just never followed up on. I still do not understand the deal with Malphas. While those things irked me to no end, I walked away from this season feeling satisfied and happy to be a part of it. And at the end of the day, that is really what matters.

FINAL FINAL THOUGHT:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HEAR N’ SPEAK GIRL?!?!?!

Gamescast Episode 39: Summer Video Games

Jen Stayrook

August 31, 2016

What’s up, guys and gals! Welcome to the Workprint Gamescast!

Listen to Rob, Jen, Bilal, and the gang talk about the latest in video games news, what they’re playing, and all other manner of nerdy habits.

THIS WEEK ON THE GAMESCAST: Rob, Jen, and Chris talk about the lack of AAA video game releases in the summer and how that affects our buying habits in the fall. The gang also discusses the No Man’s Sky refund issues, Chris buys his kids new 3DS’s, Jen sells everyone on Slime Rancher, and Rob has a birthday!

What’s up: 01:24

What we’ve been playing: 11:54

Video Game News: 26:21

Summer Video Games Discussion: 44:43

Follow the Gamescast hosts on Twitter!

Rob: @Sunnyvice20
Jen: @JenStayrook
Chris: @Neolego

Want to watch our shenanigans live? Check out the Workprint Twitch channel.

‘Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV’ Filmmaker and Director Talk About the Film and the Father/Son Dynamic

Jen Stayrook

August 31, 2016

There are few games as anticipated as Final Fantasy XV. It’s been in development for over ten years now and FF fans like Bilal are champing at the bit to get their hands on what is thought to be the most beautiful and innovative entry into the series. Kingsglaive is a movie that serves as a precursor to the game itself, acting as a two-hour prologue to the events of the game. It’s a stunning look at how far technology has come in the animated industry and if you watch it for no other reason, it’s realism and action sequences are sure to impress.

Kingsglaive is out in select theaters around the country, but more importantly, it’s out now digitally. (Blu-ray releases October 4th.)

We had the opportunity to sit down with filmmaker Takeshi Nozue and lead writer and localization director Dan Inoueto (who translated for Takeshi) to talk about the process behind Kingsglaive, as well as discuss some of the more spoiler-y aspects of the film. (Spoilers are marked in red further down the page.)

SYNOPSIS: Lucis is home to the sacred Crystal, and the menacing empire of Niflheim is determined to steal it. King Regis of Lucis (Sean Bean) commands an elite force of soldiers called the Kingsglaive. Wielding their king’s magic, Nyx (Aaron Paul) and his fellow soldiers fight to protect Lucis. As the overwhelming military might of the empire bears down, King Regis is faced with an impossible ultimatum – to marry his son, Prince Noctis to Princess Lunafreya of Tenebrae (Lena Headey), captive of Niflheim, and surrender his lands to the empire’s rule. Although the king concedes, it becomes clear that the empire will stop at nothing to achieve their devious goals, with only the Kingsglaive standing between them and world domination.

Final Fantasy XV has been a game long in development. Back on the Playstation 3 it was Final Fantasy Versus 13 and was later rebranded as FFXV. Was there always a plan to do a Kingsglaive movie back when the game was Final Fantasy Versus 13 or was this something that came up after the game was rebranded as FFXV?

When Versus 13 moved console generations to the PS4, it was decided that it should do so as FFXV, and then it was conceived to tell this story in this way. Over the console generation, we’ve seen fewer players interested in Final Fantasy as a series, so the idea of the film was to reach more people, a wider audience who may want to know about the world of FFXV.

Kingsglaive joins Brotherhood and A King’s Tale as story-building elements around the game of Final Fantasy XV. How were designs, story decisions, and character arcs decided and shared across the FFXV collection of stories?

With the major axis they work on, Kingsglaive is the father and son axis that bridges the two gaps between past and present. Brotherhood covers the present axis, following Noctis whereas A King’s Tale tells King Regis’ story from a time before. Kingsglaive is the father and son’s story coming together.

Takeshi, you previously worked on Final Fantasy: Advent Children. How has the landscape of digital animated films changed in his experience while working on Kingsglaive? Was there anything he learned or took from the feedback from FF:AC into KG:FFXV?

When he worked on Advent Children, he was in the Digital Works Department of the company. For Kingsglaive, Takeshi and his team moved to the Business Division. The most striking difference you’ll see is the realism in Kingsglaive. The technology has improved exponentially over the years and the element you’ll notice this the best is in the facial expressions, helping to make the characters more rich and real than ever before. The bigger difference in terms of storytelling is that, in Advent Children is set specifically within that Final Fantasy 7 story, whereas Kingsglaive has a broader audience in mind, meant to appeal to those who may just have a curiosity about FFXV.

The announcement of Kingsglaive was a surprise to many during the Final Fantasy XV Uncovered event. How were you able to keep it a secret for so long?

Well, we weren’t even sure how we were able to keep it a secret. We did say that, in the past, we thought we may have been too quick to say anything but personally, he didn’t want to bring it out until it was ready. It worked out that we were able to do it as we were.

These next questions contain spoilers for some of the events that occur in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. Please continue with caution.

Kingsglaive packs a ton of story, background, and world building into a two hour movie. Why was this story so important to tell before FFXV’s release?

One of the other driving factors was that we really wanted to show this theme of father and son and then have the game transition into an open world game. It was kind of difficult to tell that story just within the game, so another medium was conducive to telling the story we wanted to tell about the father and the son.

So you mention this father and son dynamic, but we never actually see Regis and Noctis together throughout the film. Does this father/son relationship then show itself more in the relationship between Nyx and Regis, since Nyx is ultimately loyal first to this king who has so earned his trust?

Well, it’s kind of more a parent and child dynamic. Nyx simply shows the parental side of King Regis. Kingsglaive is telling the father’s side of the story whereas the game, FFXV is telling the son’s side of things. There’s a lot of depth to Regis and the decisions he makes so that’s ultimately what the film focuses on. It’s a half of a whole.

Why tell this story through Nyx’s eyes and not someone in FFXV?

One of the key things we wanted for Kingsglaive was for the film to be approachable. Character-wise, we wanted something open to a wider audience and Nyx is someone who can interest those who might not be inclined to check out something in the Final Fantasy universe. He has a broader appeal so that was why we chose him.

The fashion and costumes in this movie are absolutely top-notch, with even minute details in the Glaive’s uniforms to set them apart. Was this design something you had control over for the film?

We didn’t want to make the Glaive uniforms too “modern military” as that wouldn’t feel like it would work in a Final Fantasy world. At the same time, we didn’t want it to be too Final Fantasy that it would alienate viewers. We researched different traditions that would give it the appeal of both modern and original, while still relating to a magic-using society.

With the game already criticized for not having playable female characters, what went into the thought process behind killing Crowe early in the film?

It really is about the narrative of the film. I don’t think you can really tie it into the game side of things in terms of female characters and their treatment. The major plot point that we wanted was to focus on Nyx’s emotional landscape, so it’s told through Nyx and Libertus, intended to drive a wedge between them to show their internal turmoil. The death of Crowe was something we felt would be the effective activator of that.

Did you bring in Sean Bean as King Regis just so you could kill him, keeping his death streak in movies and TV alive?

Sean is great and so regal. He really was best for the character and he just happened to die.

Final Fantasy XV is set to release November 29th, 2016 on PS4 and Xbox One. Kingsglaive is available now digitally.

In Preparation for the ‘Dead of Summer’ Season Finale: A List of Questions

Alyssa Berkowitz

August 30, 2016

In preparation for the Dead of Summer season finale, I wanted to make a list of questions that I still have about the show. To do this, I sat down and re-watched the entire season with a handy notebook by my side (the things I do for you guys).

On a side note: while watching, it was jarring how differently I saw nearly all of Amy’s interactions the second time around. Everything that I thought was cute, endearing and sweet on my first viewing I interpreted as calculated and deliberate on the second. This is a testament to both Elizabeth Lail and the showrunners talent for creating a character that can be read as either innocent or evil depending on the lens that you are viewing the scene.

Now onto the list I broke it up into three sections 1) Questions I Need/Expect Answers To 2) Questions I Would Appreciate Answers To and 3) Questions that Most Likely Won’t Be Answered but I Will Mention Anyway

Question I Need/Expect Answers To

A better understanding of the mythology behind Malphas? A lot of my difficulty with fully immersing myself into this story is that there are too many unknowns about Malphas. I do not understand this demon, what he is, and what he wants. What I know is that he is trapped in Lake Stillwater and feeds off of people’s insecurities and secrets which causes them to see things. He is the prince of hell and promises his worshipers to set them free if they set him free. From what we have seen, it seems as though he only recruits in the confines of Stillwater, Wisconsin. My first issue I was having was figuring out when Malphas came to Amy. Evan pointed out in the comment section last week that it was probably when she first came to camp to see if she got the job. While it was initially hard for me to accept that long list of coincidental events that got her to camp had nothing to do with Malphas (becoming friends with Margo; applying to camp; deciding to follow up on her application by driving to camp; going to and killing her friend by calling the cops) I let myself accept these assumptions. But once she was at camp, that is where I have even more question. Where did she get the mask and how did she learn about the mythology and what she needed to do. Heelen recruited and taught Damon and his crew about all the rituals. How did Amy just know these things? Did Malphas talk to her? There are just missing pieces that are making it hard for me to understand what is really going on.
Holyoke and the Light Spirits? This may be something that the show somewhat holds back on to explain in upcoming seasons, but I need to know a little bit more about the connection between Malphas and Holyoke. Is Holyoke the one who trapped Malphas in the lake? Is that why Holyoke’s skull was needed for the the ritual that electrocuted Amy in the lake? Also what are these light spirits. They came out of nowhere and were not actually explained.
How/why did Jessie survive the pure Lake Stillwater basin? I was confused about whether the purification didn’t work, which is why Amy was able to call Malphas back to her body, or if Jessie was so special that she was able to survive the purification.
Deb’s past connection to the whole mess? I think this question is pretty self explanatory. Again, I understand if this is not fully answered as the showrunners have stated that each season would be set in a different summer at Camp Stillwater. That said, they have to give us something about why there is a picture of a horse mask man standing behind Deb from 1970, why she has a wooden horse mask in her wardrobe, and why Amy tells Deb that she is involved.

Things I Would Really Appreciate Having Answered:

Why did Holyoke haunt Michael in the summer of ‘83, follow him home and keep tormenting him until he killed himself? I am assuming there was another vessel that was at camp that summer, but why then did he follow Michael home? The answer could be that Holyoke is just horrible at his job. If your goal is to get the kid you are haunting to save the world and instead cause him to kill himself, you did something wrong.
The timeline of how Amy killed Cricket? I know that editing and timelines are sometimes ambiguous on shows, but the night of Cricket’s death seemed pretty clear. When did Amy have time to kill Cricket? Cricket did not leave to meet with Alex until after Joel and Amy came back to camp with Francie’s inhaler. After that she was sitting around the campfire with everyone talking about Holyoke. How could she have possibly gotten away, gotten into her Malphas Worshipping Attire and killed Cricket via a bear trap before Cricket reached Alex? This one just does not make sense.
Is Anton going to come back into play? If Holyoke was using Joel, why did he need Anton?
Why did Damon et al. think that Cricket was the vessel at first?
Will Heelen’s previous role as the Teacher be further explained?

Things I know won’t be answered but I will point them out anyway:

What is Blair’s backstory?
Did Amy carve the sign into the piano when she went on the date with Alex?
What is the importance of Amy’s brother’s electric piano she has in her trunk? Is it just a collection of trophies from people she killed?
What was with Joel’s imaginary relationship with Deb? Like was that Malphas fucking with Joel because he knew Holyoke was talking to him? Or was Malphas fucking with Deb and they really did have sex in the woods?
How did Cricket get her nickname?
Where did Hear n’ Speak girl go? Is she teamed up with Amy?!?!
What happened to the rest of the camp staff? They weren’t on the bus, so were they just like chilling in their separate staff lounge while campers were being evacuated and a demon loving psychopath was running around killing everyone?

‘Dark Matter’: It’s the Return of Wil Wheaton in “Going Out Fighting”

Jen Stayrook

August 26, 2016

This week on ‘Dark Matter’: Two needs an upgrade from Dwarfstar Technologies; there’s some romance on the ship; Wil Wheaton returns to twirl his mustache.

Spoilers through Dark Matter 209: “Going Out Fighting.”

After Dark Matter’s cliffhanger ending last week, we DON’T start this episode with Two waking up and everything being perfectly fine because the showrunners are giant teases. I’ve become kind of attached to Two for the sake of Five, so I need her to be okay. I guess the next episode could be titled “Nyx Is The New Two” and I’d probably be okay with that, but really, I just adore Melissa O’Neill. I’ve said before that she does the best job at interpreting the many different roles Two plays, so I’d be sad to see her go.

BUT before we get into the nitty-gritty, life-and-death situation, we have news coming in from aboard the Raza:

Nyx and Four Hooked Up.

Sure, we all saw that coming from, well, outer space, but STILL. Four shows off some of his classic Four emotions and Nyx tries hard to play it cool, but they both fail as Three smells the stench of shame and teases them for it.

Three: “Wow, you two were really going at it last night.”
*awkward silence as shame fills the room*
Nyx: “Yea, bowstaves and swords”
Three: “You guys moved up to grappling?”

I like this move because I like Four and I like Nyx and I think they work well off each other. That being said, I think this romance might take a hit when Four ultimately decides to go back to Zairon. (Yep, still sticking to that story. There’s gotta be a reason Milo spoke to Four so much.) Later on the Marauder, Four confides to Six that he wishes he could help his home planet, but without his memories he has nothing to offer his people. However, I don’t buy that he’s truly as loyal as he says.

Also, Three remains the best source of humor on Dark Matter.

A Critical Stage of Failure

After Five finds Two on the floor of his room, the Android tells Two that her nanites are in a critical stage of failure and she’s dying. We know from last season and the flashback in the episode’s recap that this is true because ~~Wil Wheaton~~ Alexander Rook says so. The crew decides it’s a no-brainer that they pull a heist on the most technologically advanced research facility in the universe because it’s Two’s life at stake. And damn if my little heart didn’t explode with happiness. Every single crew member is ready to lay down their lives for Two and you know what? For all the complaints about a lack of character development, these moments on Dark Matter get to me. Of course I want the development, too, but this is definitely an “all for one” kind of crew. I. LOVE. THAT.

Even the Android gets in on the love-fest:

Two: “You’re trying to distract me from what’s going on down on that planet.”
Android: “That would be atypical behavior for an Android.”
Two: “But perfectly normal behavior for a friend.”

Two, however, isn’t a fan of letting her crew do all the dirty work, especially when it’s her issue that puts them into a dangerous situation. She begs the Android to give her some kind of a solution to be useful and Fairy Godmother Android gives Two 24 hours to enjoy the ball at Dwarfstar Technologies.

**Technology In The Dark Matter Universe**

One of the reasons I love the sci-fi genre is because I’m fascinated by the technologies it’s creators manage to think up. Nanites, space elevators that put the Space Needle to shame, transfer transits, and blink drives are all really cool bits of technology in the world of Dark Matter.

That being said…

Three, what in the ever-loving hell is on your face? Are you trying to tell me those were least conspicuous pair you could find at the Sunglass Hut? You look like your villain name would be Doctor Incognito.

Rebecca’s Return

As the crew plans their journey into Dwarfstar, they meet Eric Waver, a junior scientist who became close with Rebecca in the early stages of her development. They learn that during her bloody escape of the space station, she spared Waver’s life. He tells the crew that Dwarfstar has improved her nanites it’s GO TIME. They borrow some retina scans from Eric’s unsuspecting coworkers and make their way into the research facility.

Alexander Rook the Party Pooper shows up to make a mess of things with his hair cut and mustache-twirling skills. Three and Six are imprisoned before they can escape with the improved nanites while Eric is sadly killed off-screen.

Android realizes they can adapt the blink drive to the Marauder and blink into the space station. WHY DIDN’T YOU THINK OF THIS SOONER ANDROID?

Inside Dwarfstar, Two runs into Rook and he shows off his gadgets. Unlike all the other antagonists on this show, he’s slimy and evil. “Would you like to meet the new you?” A door then opens in the wall like this a house of horrors and out pops Steroid Devon intent on killing Two. Like the villain that he is, Rook monologues a bit and then leaves before making sure the job is done.

CLASSIC.

Nyx comes to Two’s rescue and eventually Four shows up and puts like fifteen bullets in his over-muscled head. Two passes out, presumably dead, but Six is quick on his feet and draws blood from dead Steroid Devon to save Two’s life.

Three and the Fisherman’s Wife

The crew heads back to the Raza, but not all is well with Three after his time alone with Rook’s tentacle experiments. He’s infected with a space virus from visiting some questionable stations. The virus compels him to muck with the FTL drive but Six is on his A-game tonight and warns Two just in time to capture him. They blast the space monster into the atmosphere and then lecture Three about safe internet browsing.

Three: “Oh come on. Did he save my life again? This is gettin’ kinda old, isn’t it?”
Six: “For you and me both.”

OH THREE YOU BIG SOFTIE. YOU LOVE EVERYONE AND WE KNOW IT.

The Hot Chocolate Saga

In an episode filled to the brim with tense moments, Five and Android share the tensest moment of the episode over a cup of hot cocoa:

Android: “Hot chocolate. Did you know that I possess over 20 million taste receptors?”
Five: “Do you want a sip–”
Android: “OKAY.”

These little moments are what I want from Dark Matter and a show that focuses on an ensemble cast. The bond between these characters carries the show. Then they talk about Five being worried about Two:

Android: “You’re worried?”
Five: “Of course I’m worried. In the past she’s been almost invincible. I mean, I saw her come back from the dead that time she was blasted out the airlock but that was because of her nanites. Now, instead of saving her, they’re going to kill her.”
Android: “No they won’t. She won’t let that happen. What makes Two special isn’t her nanites. It’s her strength of will. Her ability to face adversity and never give up.”

Then Android STEALS the hot chocolate, tells Five that Two will be fine and then looks like she totally doesn’t believe a damn word of what she just said. LOOK WHO IS HUMAN NOW.

Thankfully, Two is safe and sound. For now.

Random Thoughts

I doubt this is the last time we see Rook. He’s too much of a threat to be left alive. Two wants answers and he’s the one who can give them to her.

Speaking of Rook, does anyone think that the alternate universe actually a vision of the future? Two blowing up Dwarf Star, Four being emperor, the Raza causing the war between corporations all seem like they could plausibly come to fruition by the end of the season.

Android loves everyone it’s adorable, but that ending: is she totally crushing on Three? Was she on her charging pad dreaming of a time with Three? (That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.)

Dark Matter airs Fridays on Syfy at 10pm EST.

‘Killjoys’ Review: We Say Goodbye To [SPOILER]

Nicole C

August 26, 2016

Killjoys Season 2,
Episode 9: “Johnny Be Good”
Air Date: August 26, 2016

In the second to the last episode of Killjoys season 2, audiences are treated to a roller coaster ride of epic proportions as Team Awesome Force attempts to stop the Company’s nefarious plans. Things of course don’t go smoothly and a lot of people die as a result.

Dutch and D’Av rescue complacent and ridiculously happy Pawter and Johnny from Old Town, but people have started dying after consuming the poisoned rations. After the lovebirds explain the Company’s plan to cull the herd, the former assassin decides to end this once and for all by going to Spring Hill, shutting down the wall, and killing Jelco themselves.

Once they get there though the place is empty and very much feels like a big fat trap. Pawter and Dutch head to Jelco’s office while the Jaqobis try and destroy the power source of the wall. Unfortunately Pawter accidentally triggers a security protocol inside the office and a holo of the Company officer informs them that they are too late and there’s currently a change of guards in Spring Hill. He sends a security team to their location and Dutch volunteers to lure them away while D’Avin helps her. Meanwhile Johnny has managed to discover that the Company officer is still in the facility and will send Dutch his location so that she can kill him.

Speaking of the technologically savvy killjoy, he has to deal with a smartass program that is preventing him from shutting down the wall’s power core. He inserts Lucy into the terminal and she brings it, thwarting the annoying software.

Pawter tries to get the manual shutdown code from Delle Seyah but the other woman refuses to give it. We find out that she’s set up rations for all the other towns in Westerly and the Company is planning to do exactly the same thing in all these other places. Coming to an incredibly difficult decision, Pawter has Lucy broadcast her to all of Old Town and urges them to destroy the wall themselves because there is no other way. Then she reactivates the mood controls into rage setting that has the citizens start throwing their bodies against the electrified construct, killing themselves but trying to short out the power. It’s a horrific sight as so many people fall down dead from the impact. However it does work and the wall malfunctions and breaks down. Pawter made the incredibly difficult decision in the face of horrific circumstances.

In the meantime Dutch finds Jelco down in another lower zone while seeing tons of plasma and beds set up. Turns out the fittest and strongest of Old Town were going to be converted into 6’s, likely to fight whatever new threat is on it’s way. The Company officer tries to bargain for his life by telling Dutch that he knows where there’s more plasma because Westerly is just the beginning. Annoyed with the situation Dutch begrudgingly decides to keep him alive so she can find out what the hells is really going on, but gives herself up to the angry mob of Old Towers to give D’Av and Jelco more time to get away and enact her plan.

Herin, the angry mob leader, has been trying to get Dutch to tell him where Jelco is to pay for his crimes by poisoning her. Now every time she lies she vomits blood (fyi this toy came courtesy of Jelco’s office). Eventually, he brings in Johnny to see if she would tell him the truth. The two killjoys have a heart to heart and she does relent and tells Herin that she’s been buying time for D’Av and Jelco because they are planning to blow up Spring Hill. Upset Haron plans on hanging Dutch anyways when the Royale shakes, meaning that D’Av and Jelco succeeded in purchasing a weapon from Pawter’s once captor in the Badlands.

Spring Hill is destroyed and Delle Seyah suddenly appears at the Royale, claiming she’s there to negotiate Westerly’s independence. Apparently she has 30 different miners guilds screaming bloody murder if any wall gets built near their towns after seeing Pawter’s broadcast. Seyah Kendry’s conditions though are that Pawter gives up her title, shares within The Company, and her land over. After some thought the doctor agrees understanding that playing politics costs too much. Johnny suggests that she can be their ship doctor because she’ll always have a home as long as he’s there. But hey what happens to her sister??

Herin and Pawter sign the document with ink and blood and just when it seems that Delle Seyah is about to do the same, she uses the knife to stab Pawter instead. All hell breaks loose as the supposed monks accompanying her were not Scarbacks at all but 6’s. Johnny desperately tries to save his ladylove but she’s bleeding too much and too fast and there’s nothing he can do. D’Av knocks him out so that Team Awesome can get out of there.

When Dutch, D’Av and an unconscious Johnny get back onto Lucy, it’s not Jelco waiting for them but Fancy! The level 6 agent tells them that he’s let the officer go as instructed by Khlyen and he’s basically there to bring Dutch to her former tutor for a little face to face chat.

What a ride this season has been so far and I can’t even begin to imagine what next week’s episode is going to be like. This was a particularly powerful episode because I wasn’t expecting Pawter to die. She had played an important role in Killjoys so far and her crusade to save Old Town had made me grow attached to her. But like another show that shall not be named, this series isn’t afraid to kill off major characters just when you grow fond of them. It’s great television that kills you a little inside but you keep coming back for more. It’s sadistic but dammit I can’t quit you.

Killjoys won’t be quite the same with Pawter gone but it will be interesting to see how her death will impact Johnny, the rest of the team, and the Quad as a whole. There are definitely much bigger things at play that she and the killjoys only knew a fraction of. At the moment her passing seems to have been in vain though while the wall around Old Town was destroyed, Delle Seyah did not grant Westerly independence and only the farce of a peace treaty that will only try to temporarily appease the people before she, the Company, and Khlyen can get their plans back on track. But surely Johnny will be avenging her death and perhaps Seyah Kendry won’t make it out of this season either.

This episode reminded me a lot of the frantic tone of the season 1 finale “Escape Velocity” where the focus was heavy on Old Town and it’s citizens. Once again Team Awesome Force is fleeing from the area and are about to face even greater danger. This time around I suspect we’ll finally find out what Khlyen has really been up to.

Only one more episode left for season 2! AAHH!!!

Killjoys airs Fridays on Syfy at 9/8 central.

Images courtesy of Syfy.

Pull It Together Episode 2: Team Ups

Jen Stayrook

August 26, 2016

Welcome to Pull It Together, a weekly podcast where Terence and Rob discuss their weekly pull list, their favorite current arc, and the current state of the comic book industry.

This week on Pull It Together: The boys are back with their thoughts on the releases of 8/24/16. Terence and Rob are both enamored by “Team” books and the podcast has a spanking new intro!

Comics pulled this week:

Rob:
Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1
The Hellblazer: Rebirth #1
Titans: Rebirth #1
Harley’s Little Black Book #4

Terence:
Action Comics #962
Detective Comics #939
Star Wars #22

Make sure to follow us on Twitter: @TheWorkprint
Terence: @ErrantBachelor
Rob: @Sunnyvice20

3 Things Nintendo Must Get Right with The NX

Chris White

August 25, 2016

Here’s what we know – Nintendo is making a new console code-named, The NX.

Here is what we don’t know – everything else.

Anytime Nintendo starts their R&D on a new product, it becomes hard not to speculate and daydream about what you hope it is…and sometimes, what you hope it isn’t.

With that in mind, I put together a list of three things that I feel Nintendo has to get right with the NX or it will be doomed from the start. Let’s get started.

Online Account System

I use a Xbox One as my primary console right now. With the Xbox Live service and Xbox Live Account, a member has access to dozens of digital video games, movies, music, and applications.

Users also have access to Xbox Play Anywhere games on PC and select Xbox 360 games playable on Xbox One. Everything that a member buys is linked to that account, so if a console was to be lost or damaged or upgraded, all of that content is readily available based on that member’s account.

In contrast, if a person were to drop a 3DS in a swimming pool, they would not only lose the system but also the 45 digital games they’ve purchased and downloaded. For the record, if a person were to call Nintendo and explain the situation, there is a good chance they can help retrieve some or all of the content, but the fact of the matter is that Nintendo has no obligation to help, because any purchase is licensed to a piece of hardware and not a user. What makes this even more frustrating is that Nintendo likes to release refreshes to it’s hardware (I’m looking at you NEW Nintendo 3DS).

If a person buys an updated 3DS, they can’t login to a profile on that system and download all of the games linked to that account. They would have to do a system transfer which doesn’t always work.

To make things worse, in a house like mine, people can own 2 or more Wii U consoles. Since the games are linked to a system and not a profile, if you download a digital copy of a game, it can only be played on the system it was downloaded on. This is the biggest issue that Nintendo has and it needs to be addressed.

Nintendo’s account system is a total mess. There is Nintendo Network, which you can utilized to purchase games online. This sounds great, but once again those games you purchase are linked to a console, not an account, so you can only download them on 1 machine.

There is Miiverse, which is a social media platform that Nintendo uses for all of it’s content. You can follow games and make posts, but it’s pedestrian at best.

There is My Nintendo, which is a brand new loyalty program that has taken the place of Club Nintendo. So far I have had a good experience with My Nintendo and receiving rewards for buying Nintendo digital software is a great benefit.

These services are all competent, but they are all separate. You have to login into them separately. In fact, my Mii is different for each of the services. There is no unification of any of their online or digital systems. If the NX is going to be successful, this must change.

The NX needs to have one profile with one Mii that connects with Miiverse, My Nintendo, and the Online Network. That account needs to link any purchases you make to your profile and NOT to a console. And just like PSN and Xbox Live, you should be able to login to any machine with your profile and download and play any game that you own digitally. The NX needs Cloud Saves that work in a similar fashion.

As excited as I am for the NX, if I can’t have my library on two home consoles this generation, I will see the NX as a failure.

Games – And Lots of Them

The masses like to blame the Wii U’s failure on Third-Party support.

While I agree with this statement, I don’t agree with the idea that a Nintendo platform has to have parity with Sony or Microsoft.

In fact, I have had at least two consoles for five generations now (SNES/Genesis, N64/Dreamcast, GameCube/Xbox, Xbox 360/Wii, and Xbox One/Wii U) and I feel like most gamers would probably find themselves in this same boat.

I truly believe that the Nintendo console has become the secondary system for a lot of gamers. If EA announced today that Mass Effect Andromeda would launch on the NX along with the Xbox One and PS4 release, I still believe the NX version would sell far fewer units.

Instead, what I feel Nintendo needs to do is focus Third-Parties in creating unique experiences for their product. If Mass Effect Andromeda is out on the PS4/Xbox One, give me Mass Effect Tactics on the NX, which would probably be a much better experience for a Home/Portable console and would add layers to the Mass Effect universe.

These are the types of experiences that Nintendo needs to pursue. The NX doesn’t need to just be another place to play Call of Duty.

The second part of this is really pushing the First-Party content.

Nintendo will always be the Godfather of gaming because of its IPs. The struggle that Nintendo has had in the past was that it’s resources were split between a home console and handheld.

This has been very evident in the Wii U/3DS lifecycle. There have been stretches of time with good Wii U software and nothing on 3DS and visa versa.

If the rumor of the NX being a hybrid console that combines Home and Handheld gaming turns out to be true, it will join both of their development groups under one console.

Now, when the Mario Team or the Zelda team start discussing new games, it won’t be a conversation of which platform, it will just be about the game they want to make.

From January 2015 through December 2016, Nintendo will have released a total of 24 video games between the Wii U and 3DS. These range from huge triple A releases like Super Mario Maker and Fire Emblem Fates to smaller experiences like Rhythm Heaven and Yoshi’s Wooly World.

That averages out to 1 video game per month over the course of 2 years.

If the NX releases with at least 1 Nintendo Developed or Published game on the platform each month, you will see the install base not only grow but also stick around.

Price

Price may be the hill that the NX lives or dies on.

There is little that we know for sure, but the more substantial rumors tell us that Nintendo is, once again, focusing on innovation and not power.

Reports have speculated that the console will be less powerful than a PS4. If the Nintendo NX releases for more than $299.99, then you can probably pull out your trumpet and start playing Taps.

Gamers can currently buy an Xbox One S for $299.99, which is rumored as a more powerful system. Even with a portable “gimmick”, it would be a hard sell to a casual shopper why they should spend more for less.

If Nintendo can get the price at or under $299.99 and it has parity with the current consoles, adding the innovation of portable gaming could bring huge value to that product.

Dropping that price to $249 (the original price of the Wii) or even $199, you would be an instant hit for Nintendo. At that price, it becomes a must have item for almost anyone.

For all of the issues you can take with the Wii U, it’s biggest misstep has been price. Almost 4 years after release, you still can’t find one cheaper than $299, and the most common bundle right now, The Super Mario Maker Bundle, costs $349…..$50 more than a brand new Xbox One S. That is mind blowing. If Nintendo wants the NX to be the successful, it has to figure out how to win at the register.

So, there you have it, my thoughts on the 3 things that Nintendo has to get right with the release of the NX. It is still early and all of this is based on the rumors of what’s to come. However, any fan would probably agree that these are all areas that Nintendo has needed to address for a while.

What do you think is most needed with the release of the NX system? Do you think an account system similar to XBL and PSN is important? Do you think Nintendo will be able to support the NX with a deep games library? What do you think the launch price of the NX will be? What do you hope it will be? Sound off in the comments.

‘Dead of Summer’ Review: “Home Sweet Home”

Alyssa Berkowitz

August 25, 2016

Dead of Summer
Season 1, Episode 9: “Home Sweet Home”
Tuesday, August 23, 2016

****WARNING, THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ‘DEAD OF SUMMER’ THROUGH EPISODE 9 “HOME SWEET HOME.” YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED****

After watching “Home Sweet Home,” my first thought was, “This was the best episode of the season.” After thinking more about it, I amended it to, “This was my favorite episode of the season.” I think this is an important distinction. Learning that Amy is a fucking psychopath and the person behind the wooden horse masked killings is probably one of my favorite reveals. While I was shocked and blindsided, it also made complete sense. And I think that is what makes a plot twist in a thriller work. Amy being the killer, I didn’t see it, but it made sense.

Amy was shady as hell in the pilot of Dead of Summer. I was suspicious of her innocent good girl routine, and that suspicion somewhat bled into the second episode. By episode three though, Amy had convinced me that she was no threat. While she showed concern for the supernatural things going on she was never over eager. She did not pursue finding answers. Instead, she would leave little innocuous hints and wait for another person in the group to dig. She was good at her job, she showed concern for the kids. Actually, thinking back now, that should have been a major red flag. In a place like Camp Stillwater you have to be a demon loving psychopath to give a damn about the campers.

Amy actually being a psychopath felt rewarding. Learning that she was a psychopath who killed everyone while wearing a wooden horse mask was fascinating. But the thing is I am still confused as fuck about so many things and a lot still doesn’t add up for me. And that is why I would say this is my favorite episode and not the best (the best was “How to Stay Alive in The Woods”).

Amy’s Past

Amy did not have an easy childhood. She had a jerk brother and an asshole father. As a child she just wanted to play with her brother’s pet mouse Ralphie but her parents forbade her. But young Amy didn’t listen and one night her parents discover she disobeyed them when they see Ralphie pattering away in the living room. When she tells her parents that she doesn’t think it’s fair to keep Ralphie locked up in a cage and just wants him to be free her father yells back at her:

Dad: “Amy! Why don’t you ever listen? What’s wrong with you.”

Later that night, as young Amy washes the dishes, her asshole brother tells her that their parents are planning on sending her away because they don’t want her anymore. As they are fighting she realizes that something is wrong with the garbage disposal and when their mom checks it out, she pulls out a mutilated Ralphie.

A few nights later Amy’s brother lures her to the garage and locks her inside so she could feel what it is liked to be locked up in a cage, just like Ralphie. She screams and cries but finally falls asleep. The next morning she is awoken by a firefighter who lets her know that her whole family died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to the flue of the fireplace being closed.

Over the next nine years Amy is moved from foster home to foster home, living in a total of seven different homes. The woman running her current group home says that hopefully she will have a fresh new start at Hunter High School. And a fresh start she has.

Camp Stillwater, 1989

Garrett, Jessie, and Alex are in Holyoke’s cabin where he has conjured up a basin of pure Lake Stillwater water, to purify and save Amy’s soul. Holyoke thinks that Malphus picked Amy as a vessel because she is the purest of pure. Amy is pleading to the others that she isn’t really possessed but Holyoke assures them that “The demon is a master of deception.” So basically don’t listen to anything that comes out of Amy’s possessed mouth. Holyoke also warns them that under absolutely no circumstances to open the door or the demon will escape.

Apparently, Amy is the first vessel that Malphus has ever accepted and purifying her will take every bit of strength they have. They need to call to the spirits of light because it will give them the strength to fight the Malphus. Did I miss something? Am I supposed to know what the spirits of light are? Is this like the City of Light over on The 100?

Holyoke heads over to his piano to summon said light but as he does, a bloody smoke monster emerges from the lake and zooms around camp until it reaches Holyoke’s cabin. At first, I thought the light went into Jessie, but I was proven wrong when it started pouring blood outside of the cabin and Holyoke turns into blood and disappears.
The song didn’t work because a demonic engraved piano key rendered the piano useless. Jessie takes control of the situation and informs them that they will have to be the spirits of light and save Amy themselves.

All the while Amy is begging for them to untie her. Pleading that there is no evil inside. But seriously Amy thou doth protest too much. All they are doing is saying some old incantations and throwing old pure water on her. If she wasn’t possessed the worst thing that could happen is she would get wet. The only reason she would freak out this much is if she was possessed. Jessie knows this and she is determined to save Amy’s delicate, sweet, pure, virgin soul.

As Jessie shoves the purified water down Amy’s throat the demon inside takes control. Jessie urges Garrett, the assigned Amy Whisperer, to remind Amy of who she really is so that Malphus doesn’t win. He says some platitudes about how she is a good person and this is her home. This doesn’t work though, instead it causes Malphus to show himself. When Garrett tries to talk to Amy again she responds by viciously biting his neck which was absolutely amazing.

They say more incantations and finally they think that Amy is cured. So, when they hear Deb knocking Jessie decides it is safe to open the door. But it wasn’t Deb, it was Malphus pretending to be Deb. This was really confusing because I thought Malphus was inside Amy and we soon find out Deb is aimlessly running through the woods so I am not sure what actually just happened. Whatever it was, it made Malphus inside Amy strong again and Amy threatens to kill Garrett if Jessie does not open that damn door.

Jessie, proving yet again how brave and badass she is, decides that she is not going to let anyone else get hurt. She offers herself to be Malphus’ vessel in Amy’s place. She knows what it is like to have the lightness in your heart snuffed out and doesn’t want Amy to endure that. Oh, Jessie, I couldn’t love you more. Once Malphus transfers into Jessie’s body, Alex carries Jessie to the basin of purified Lake Stillwater Water to finally destroy Malphus. And after drowning her in the water all of the blood on the windows disappear.

When Amy comes to she is devastated that Jessie sacrificed her life to save everyone and rushes to give her CPR. Alex whines “But AMY, Holyoke said no one was pure enough to survive that water.” Lo and behold, Jessie is indeed pure enough, and she comes back to life!

As they are leaving Amy tells the group:

Amy:“No matter what happened here this summer, this place will always feel like home”

and asks for a few minutes alone to say goodbye.

The Campers

This storyline is so ridiculous it pains me to write about it. The campers are being rushed in the middle of the night to get onto the bus. You know, that bus that Deb said would take at least 24 hours to arrive at camp.

Blair and Drew are there to help because they weren’t cool enough to be invited to Amy’s exorcism. Deb is also there staring out at the camp and being incredibly useless. She says “I never imagined this is how I would say goodbye.” How the fuck are you bringing this fiasco back to you Deb? You have a demon on the loose with campers who need to be evacuated and you are just staring out reminiscing about ghost sex?

Blair asks if the other counselors she cares about will be okay, and she just says “I hope so” and gets on the bus. It is ridiculous that Deb is peacing out while members of her staff are still in danger at camp. While Deb’s main priority should be the campers’ safety her presence on that bus is neither helpful nor necessary. It already has two counselors. Instead, she is leaving four of her staff members, who she is also responsible for, in a cabin with a demon.

Anyway, they are driving along when a fog overcomes the bus and then bam, blood starts pouring down all the windows. As the kids are screaming Deb turns to the driver and asks “what the hell did we hit?”

Really Deb? REALLLYY? You think that the gallons of blood that just poured down on the bus came from hitting an animal? Really? And then the driver decides to go outside to assess the situation. Again…. REALLY DRIVER?? REALLY? Obviously the driver dies, but not before he smudges his face against the bloody window so all the kids see that he is about to die.

The staff is just chilling in the front of the bus waiting for the literal hell storm to pass over while the campers quietly sit in their seats. No big deal the campers just saw their bus driver get murdered and every window of the bus is covered in blood, but they are just fine. Then the entire bus starts shaking and everyone starts screaming again. Once it stops, young Francie asks the question all the kids must have been thinking “What’s out there.”

(Oh sweet little Francie, I hope you brought that inhaler with you because if Alex jumping out of a bush caused an asthma attack, a blood storm most definitely will.)

Blair tells them he doesn’t know because truthfully, I don’t think anyone has told Blair and Drew what is going on yet. As he says this a message appears on the blood soaked window:

Deb decides to take action and leaves the bus to assess the situation. She charges Blair and Drew with starting the bus up and driving the campers to safety. Once she leaves Drew tries to start the ignition by turning the key a bunch of times, flipping a bunch of switches, hitting a bunch of buttons, and banging on the dashboard. Finally, it works and he drives the campers to safety.

The Axe Showdown

Meanwhile, Deb is running around camp trying to bait the demon when her dead ex Keith comes and strangles her. He says that she is the reason the perfect vessel came to Camp Stillwater this summer and that everything is Deb’s fault. Keith disappears though once Jessie is purified and I am still very confused about what is going on with Keith and these ghosts.

Once Keith disappears, Deb heads straight to Amy’s cabin to rummage through Amy’s chest. Inside she finds an immaculately hand drawn map of Camp Stillwater and a knife.

(I am not going to lie, I find Amy more attractive after seeing how perfect her handwriting is). Then a random girl from the pilot appears in the doorway to warn Deb that Amy is a psychopath. And then just like a psychopath, Amy comes up from behind and kills the girl with an axe.

As Amy searches the bunk for Deb, she asks if Deb remembers the first time they met. When Amy drove up to Camp Stillwater to follow-up on her job application. When she told her that this camp could be her new home and Deb just responded with “Sorry we are fully staffed.” And that barring the inexplicable death of someone already hired, there is no place for her at Camp Stillwater. So Amy did what any person would do in this situation: murder someone to take their place.

She continues to tell Deb that Malphus is the only one who has ever understood her. Her family kept her caged so she killed them. But Malphus found her and wanted her for exactly who she is: a psychopath.

Amy: “[He] didn’t want an innocent, he wanted someone just like me. I spent my life looking for a place where I am free to be me. The real me. This is where I was meant to be.”

Deb comes behind Amy and stabs her at the tail end of her speech declaring:

Deb: “I saved the kids.”

Yes Deb, you should receive the Camp Director of the Year Award. But the knife in the back doesn’t stop Malphus/Amy. Instead, she just pulls that shit out and keeps on talking. And when Deb staggers back a wooden horse mask falls out of Amy’s chest and she asks Deb:

Amy: “Do you remember now? The real reason you came back here? You’re not so innocent either. Thank you for bringing me home Deb.”

Then she literally butchers the hell out of Deb’s followed by a montage of all of the wooden horse mask murders that Amy committed.

Questions: So I have ALOT of questions but I will only list a few because this is getting long:

My main question is when did Malphus come to Amy?
Who killed Ralphie the mouse. Did Amy put him down the drain because she wanted him to be free, or was their dad a psychopath and put him down to kill him. It was kind of unclear.
How did Amy kill her parents if she was in the garage? Did she know her brother was going to lock her in the garage? I am just really confused.

‘The Night Of’: The cat, the deer head, and John Stone’s Foot Problem

Jen Stayrook

August 25, 2016

Minor spoilers through The Night Of episode 107: “Ordinary Death.”

The Night Of is great television, suspenseful in all the right places and chock full of underrated actors (Riz Ahmed, bae). If you haven’t started watching, I highly recommend it. After the premiere episode, I had flashbacks to when I first watched Homeland, second-guessing what was real, who was right, and dammit I can’t remember all these minute details. It’s slowed down a bit in recent weeks, but I’m still excited to see how this mini-series ends. However, as great as Riz Ahmed has been in the role of Nasir Khan (and I’m talking Emmy-great), and as fascinating as the legal battle is weekly, there’s only thing I want to talk about at the end of each episode: the purpose of John Stone’s disgusting foot problem.

Seven episodes in and I wish other shows spent the amount of screen time HBO has spent showcasing Stone’s eczema. We’re talking closeups, winding character arcs, an identity struggle, and possibly a satisfying ending. The true antagonist of The Night Of isn’t Detective Box, Freddie, or the District Attorney. No. It’s the showrunner who thinks I want to see Stone’s foot sores weekly. (Spoiler alert: I really don’t.) I’ll never look at chopsticks the same way again.

After watching Stone have a one night stand with a prostitute who then learned of his skin affliction after the fact, and cringing so hard I nearly bit my tongue in half, I thought there MUST be a purpose to his damn feet and it has to be more than just a weird quirk.

The thing is, The Night Of is big on metaphors and symbolism. Think that deer head on the wall of Andrea’s brownstone is just Gaston-inspired decor? Think again. It’s a witness. A witness who saw the truth of the whole night but can’t tell us anything because it’s dead. Like the viewers, the deer has no say in how the trial ends or what Nasir’s fate might be by the end of eight episodes. Instead, it’s up to the men and women who are tasked with photographing that deer head, swabbing its eyes for clues, trying to piece together what it saw the night of the crime.

The cat is like Nasir, moving from one prison to another. It may have everything it needs to survive, it may think life isn’t so bad in a 10 x 10 room with food and a private place to poo, but it’s still a prisoner, just like Nas. It finds freedom from the room for a brief moment of respite, but once its noticed, it’s quickly tossed back into its cage. No matter how likable the cat may be, it’s stuck where it is.

And don’t even get me started on the implications of Nas getting a wolf howling tattoo and the connections to The Call of the Wild.

So when it comes to Stone’s feet, thematically the biggest metaphor in the whole show, what purpose do they serve? Because I’ll tell you, if the writers wanted to show that Stone is an idiosyncratic lawyer, bumbling and unprofessional compared to the high-powered attorneys prosecuting Nas, they could have done that in a few quick scenes at the outset.

No, no. John Stone’s eczema and his feet are integral to who he is as a character.

The common theory about Stone’s feet is they represent his desperation–he’ll do or try anything to get rid of the eczema–and that translates into how he acts as a lawyer. To win, to succeed, he’s unscrupulous. It’s not just the viewers who make this connection to Stone, but every other character mentions his “ambulance chaser” ways, his feet problems, and the fact that he has his face all over town; ultimately, he’s beneath them.

On the surface, those descriptions of Stone might be true; he makes his bed and his paycheck off of petty criminals, so naturally he’s seen as a money-grubbing shark by the police, detectives, and other attorneys. I argue, however, that he takes his job to heart, that he cares about the people he defends and we see that devotion in how he tends to his feet and the eczema that plagues him.

Taking care of one’s feet is an important tradition in many religions and cultures. In the Bible it states that: “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean” (John 13:10). In context of The Night Of, I think the Islamic tradition of Wudu is more relevant to John Stone’s character. Wudu is the practice of cleaning one’s body parts before prayers and reading the Qur’an. Only those who are clean are allowed to touch the Qur’an because as the prophet Muhammad said, “Cleanliness is half of faith”.

John Stone doesn’t seem the religious type, so why is this important for his character? Stone’s faith is in his work and before he can work and pursue that faith, he has to cleanse himself of his impurities. Every episode, Stone starts out by taking care of his feet, the cat, or his son; about halfway through the hour-long episode, once his “cleaning” is done, he gets to work by chasing down suspects, following up leads, or going to court. All of this is because there’s a part of him that believes he can do good work; he can save kids like Nasir from attorneys looking to make a news headline. Or at least try to. Stone’s dedication to his feet’s health directly mirrors his dedication to his work, exploring every avenue before he even considers quitting.

Now that his feet are relatively healed, his attention has been turned to taking care of Andrea’s orphaned cat. At first it was under the guise of the cat being a “witness” and wanting to do right by her, but he couldn’t let the cat be killed, just like he refused to leave Nas to another attorney. Despite being incredibly allergic to cats, Stone tends to the animal the best he can, buying it toys and showing it affection while he’s wearing rubber gloves and a surgical mask. Even though the allergies are affecting his health, he confesses with tears in his eyes that he doesn’t want to get rid of his cat. It’s good for him and his soul.

John Stone’s feet and his relationship with the cat aren’t going to come back and save the day somehow. There won’t be some brand new DNA found in the cat’s fur and Stone definitely won’t use his foot ailment as a way to smuggle in goods to save Nas in prison. That isn’t the kind of show The Night Of is trying to be. Instead, they are simply meant to show the lengths to which Stone will go to be a good person, to cleanse himself of some of the bad he does in order to have proper faith in his work.

The Night Of’s mini-series finale airs this Sunday on HBO at 9pm EST.

‘The Flash’ Season 3 – Who is The Rival?

Chris White

August 24, 2016

It’s been announced that Vampire Diaries Star, Todd Lasance, is joining The Flash as The Rival. Todd will appear in a recurring capacity and make his first appearance in the Season 3 Premiere on Tuesday, October 4th. With this in mind, The Workprint wanted to take a deeper look into who the Rival is and what role he could play in the new season of The Flash.

Who is The Rival (aka Edward Clariss)

Edward Clariss made his first appearance in Flash Comics #104 back in 1949. Edward was a professor at the university attended by the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. Jay Garrick received his powers after a science project went wrong. Jay woke up in the hospital to find out he has superhuman speed. Jay tells his future wife, Joan what happened. Joan then tells another student, Jon Burnes. Edward Clariss overhears the conversation with Joan and Jon and breaks into Jay’s laboratory to steal the formula. Edward is able to use Jay’s leftovers to create a formula that would give him, and his subjects, temporary speed. Edward calls the recreated formula, “Velocity 9”.

Clariss was rejected by the scientist community for Velocity 9. His next step was to become a criminal known as, The Rival. The Rival dressed in a darker version of the Golden Age Flash costume. After his first fight with The Flash, in 1949, The Rival gets lost in the Speed Force. He is not heard of for 50 years, but in JSA Vol 1 #16, in 2000, The Rival returned on a path of destruction to find Joan, now Jay’s wife, and murder her. The Flash Stops him once again. 2 years later, The Rival shows up, yet again, but this time he is posing as Joan’s doctor. This leads to another battle with The Flash which ends with The Rival, once more, being absorbed by the Speed Force. Edward Clariss, nor the Rival, have been seen since.

What Role Could He Play in Season 3

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FLASH SEASON 3

We spend most of season 2 believing that Hunter Zolomon is Jay Garrick, or the Flash of Earth-2. It is revealed at the end of the season that the man in the Iron Mask, which Zolomon was keeping locked away, was in fact the Real Jay Garrick. Not only was he Jay Garrick, but we also learned he was from Earth-3 and that he is Henry Allen’s Doppelganger. At the close of Season 2, we know nothing about Earth-3 outside of Jay, who sports a very heroic Golden Age Flash costume. It would make sense then, to tie The Rival into Earth-3 and Jay’s story. We are not sure how long Zolomon had Jay imprisoned, so it’s possible that The Rival could have worn a similar, darker, costume and wreaked havoc on Earth-3 while Jay was gone. This could create good drama for Jay who would return to Earth-3 only for his name to be tarnished. This would also give good reason to keep Jay around for part, or the entirety, of the season.

Another thing to consider is Velocity 9. In CW’s Flash universe, Velocity was created by Henry Wells on Earth-2 in an attempt to help “Fake-Jay” defeat Zoom. After Velocity 1-5 were failures, 6-8 worked but had varied side effects. It was then Dr. Caitlin Snow that created Velocity 9 to help “Fake-Jay” get his speed back while Barry was out of commission. This throws a big wrench in The Rival’s origin story. If, someone on Earth-1 was to get a hold of Velocity 9 and become a speedster, you would assume they would dress like Barry. However, with Reverse Flash in Season 1, Zoom in Season 2, and almost certainly Reverse Flash back in Season 3, it wouldn’t make sense to have another Barry knock off. With that logic, if The Rival is someone from Earth-1, what would possess them to dress like Jay Garrick, who is not of Earth-1?

It is reasonable to assume that someone on Earth-3 could have also created Velocity 9 and it’s also reasonable to assume that The Rival could have attained powers without Velocity 9. It’s also impossible to know what changes will actually take place with the inclusion of FlashPoint. What we know now is that The Rival will be joining the show and with a recurring role, we should have some time to get to know him and his motive. For me, as long as he warrants Jay Garrick sticking around, I’m in full support.

So, what do you think of this casting? What do you think about The Rival? Do you think he will be an Earth-3 Character? Do you think they will adapt his story and the Velocity 9 origin to Earth-1? Let us know in the comments.

Gamescast Episode 38: Gaming With Kids

Jen Stayrook

August 24, 2016

What’s up, guys and gals! Welcome to the Workprint Gamescast!

Listen to Rob, Jen, Bilal, and the gang talk about the latest in video games news, what they’re playing, and all other manner of nerdy habits.

THIS WEEK ON THE GAMESCAST: Rob, Jen, and Bilal are joined by Chris in this week’s very special family focused episode. Besides the usual rundown of the week, we discuss how we tackling gaming with our children. Also, at some point we talk about Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV so… you know… you’ve been warned!

What’s up: 01:20

What we’ve been playing: 14:40

Video Game News: 38:48

Gaming with Kids Discussion: 52:20

Follow the Gamescast hosts on Twitter!

Rob: @Sunnyvice20
Jen: @JenStayrook
Bilal: @Bilal_Mian
Chris: @Neolego

Want to watch our shenanigans live? Check out the Workprint Twitch channel.

‘Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV’ Has A Woman Problem

Jen Stayrook

August 20, 2016

Since my earliest days of playing video games, I have always loved Final Fantasy. Having played every game in the series, I mean it when I say that I love them all in their own way (even the Lightning trilogy). You see, RPGs gave me something that other video games didn’t: female characters. In any of the Final Fantasy games, you could count on at least one of the three different types of female characters:

Kind-hearted, quiet character: Aeris, Yuna, Rydia
Kickass, kind of mean character: Tifa, Celes, Lightning
Spunky, anime-esque character: Rikku, Selphie, Penelo

Of course, this is a quick over-generalization of the female characters in the series as a whole. Sure, I could lump every female character into one of those three categories and it would seem like Final Fantasy just writes stereotypes, but play any one of these female characters and I doubt you’ll feel that way after. Celes in Final Fantasy VI starts off as cold and untrusting, but by the end of the game, after letting down her guard and then participating in the opera sequence, one of the most beautiful moments in video game history, she’s a changed character. Rikku in Final Fantasy X is loud, bratty, and over-the-top ridiculous, but her character belies a darkness that you only realize halfway through the game. There’s so much more to all of these characters in the Final Fantasy universe, male and female, than meets the eye.

I highlight this long-winded character background because I need to prove that above all else, Final Fantasy is a series that has historically done great things with characters, especially female characters. Which is why I am so utterly disappointed in how female characters were treated in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.

Kingsglaive is a movie set in the FFXV world, years prior to the start of the events of the game, and focuses on the war between the evil Empire of Niflheim and the good guys in Lucis. It’s meant to set the stage for the story within the game, giving gamers a chance to learn and explore the realm, the wars, and the history before playing. Ultimately, it’s a marketing attempt to get more people interested in FFXV. I don’t mind this move by Square-Enix. In fact, I’ve loved their previous two forays into the movie business: The Spirits Within and Advent Children. However, Kingsglaive is a mess of a film, riddled with confusing dialogue, poor pacing, and lazy writing, but its most offensive crime is its treatment of female characters.

Disclaimer: I am about to discuss major spoilers from Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. If you have yet to see the film and don’t want to be spoiled, step away now.

Final Fantasy is a series that has typically split playable characters 50/50 in terms of gender and background characters are largely divided in a similar fashion. You can usually expect there to be at least three playable female characters and four playable male characters within any Final Fantasy game (outside of X-2). In Final Fantasy XV, there are no main female playable characters, only Luna who is available as a guest.

In the movie, Kingsglaive, there are four female characters. I don’t mean four main female characters. I mean four, total. Their arcs within the film are as follows: the first is killed in the prologue; the second (who gets one speaking line as a member of the King’s court) is also killed; the third is a magic soldier who is quickly stuffed in a refrigerator (killed), and the fourth is Luna. Let me emphasize this statistic in case it isn’t clear: by the end of the movie, three of those four female characters are dead.

In a series where we’ve seen females take up roles as commanders, soldiers, farmers, villains, summoners, and so many other roles, Kingsglaive ignores that history and is instead absolutely saturated with men. If a character has a name or a speaking role, there’s a 95% chance that character is a male.

The first two deaths I can grumble and somewhat excuse. The first death is the Queen of Tenebrae, Luna and Ravus’s mother who is killed within the opening five minutes. Her death acts as motive for Ravus’s hatred toward King Regis. It’s refrigerator-lite and irritating in terms of writing a compelling narrative, but okay, fine. The woman on King Regis’s court is killed during an attack, along with all its other members and is the least egregious of all the deaths.

The third death, however, the death of the orphan mage, Crowe, is absolutely inexcusable.

According to TV Tropes, the “stuffed into the fridge” trope is classified as:

“A character is killed off in a particularly gruesome manner and left to be found just to offend or insult someone, or to cause someone serious anguish. The usual victims are those who matter to the hero, specifically best buddies, love interests, and sidekicks. In some cases, the doomed character may be killed by natural forces or by a character who doesn’t have the intent to cause someone else angst—in this case, the intent comes from the writer, who wants to rouse strong emotions in another character.”

Crowe, like many of the characters in Kingsglaive, is given minimal development, as the film prefers to focus on its animation and action sequences. She’s tasked with a special mission to rescue Princess Luna from the bad Empire Niflheim and bring her back to King Regis. Why she’s chosen, we don’t know. Even main characters Nyx and Libertus are unsure why she was given the mission, but before she leaves, they make sure to remind us heavily that she is like a little sister to the two men. Off she goes on the mission but before she’s able to accomplish anything, she’s found dead on the side of the road. (We’re talking, one minute she’s alive, next sequence she’s dead; no fight, nothing.) Her death subsequently drives a wedge between best friends Nyx and Libertus, thereby spurning both into their separate actions.

The death of Crowe is not only a lazy use of what could have been a great female character, but it also negatively affects the male characters around her. It’s a move that says, “Nothing short of the death of a loved one could motivate these men into action.” The struggle of war, the destruction of their homeland, the threat of their livelihoods isn’t enough to drive them to action, but the death of a woman who they feel is their own is a personal attack by the enemy and they must have vengeance. For a series that has spear-headed so much equality between genders, Crowe’s death negatively affects not only that growth in the series but it’s also an unfair representation of both genders.

Finally, there’s the characterization of the character who ties FFXV and Kingsglaive together: Luna. Of all the character types that Final Fantasy as a series does well, it’s the feminine, soft-spoken ones I adore the most. Yuna, Aeris, and Garnet are some of the strongest characters Final Fantasy has to offer and because of their shared traits, I had high hopes for Luna. However, throughout the film, Luna is nothing more than a prop. It’s hinted at that she’s an oracle of sorts, but we never see any of her abilities. She has one brief moment of agency when she tells King Regis that she doesn’t want to be sent to safety with Noctis and instead wishes to be by the King’s side. After that, she does nothing with her decision. She spends the remainder of the film letting the male characters make decisions for her, letting them (sometimes literally) drag her from one place to the next.

There are flat characters in Kingsglaive. In fact, most them fell flat in my opinion, outside of Libertus and King Regis, but Nyx and Luna’s depictions are by far the most tiresome. Nyx should have been more than a man chasing after revenge for the death of the women in his life (his mother and sister at first, then Crowe) and Luna should have been more than just a symbol in a human’s body.

Many will say that someone like me is predisposed to hating FFXV and its spin-offs because it’s a game focused on four male characters. While I am upset at not having playable female characters, I won’t judge the game based solely on the gender of its characters. I wouldn’t want that done if the roles were reversed (as was the case with X-2). At the end of the day, I won’t deny that I expect better than average when it comes to the storytelling in a Final Fantasy game and I expect good treatment of its characters, especially the female ones. After Kingsglaive, I don’t hold much hope for that coming true in Final Fantasy XV.

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is now showing in select theaters around the country and will be available digitally on August 30th.

‘Dark Matter’ Takes A Vacation to the Multiverse in “Stuff to Steal, People to Kill”

Jen Stayrook

August 19, 2016

This week on Dark Matter: it’s chaos on the Raza as the crew accidentally jumps to a parallel universe and meets alternate versions of themselves.

Spoilers through Dark Matter 208: “Stuff to steal, people to kill”.

Maybe it’s my affinity for fan fiction, but I LOVE stories that involve a parallel universe. Taking characters we know and love and flipping them around because of one change in the timeline gets me all gooey inside. I assume that’s why I love The Flash and his comics so much.

This week in “Stuff To Steal, People To Kill”, Dark Matter takes an unknowing trip to an alternate reality courtesy of their new blink drive. At first the crew believes they only jumped 1.2 miles ahead in space but once they see the Regulus 12 Data station destroyed and another Raza ship blink away, they know something bad has happened.

Turns out that in this universe, the Raza’s crew is a group of SUPER criminals whose specialty is pissing off corporations. The Mikkei Combine aren’t too fond of this quirk and they end up snagging our Raza instead of fRaza. Coerced into taking down their non-numbered counterparts, Two and Three capture Portia and Boone and take their places aboard the fRaza. It turns out disastrously because not only is Jace Corso still alive but Wexler and Tash are also crew members, causing a bit of a stink for our good-ish heroes.

After failing to stop the nuking of a mining colony, the crew of the Raza (Two in particular), outsmarts the Mikkei Combine and Truffault by using the fAndroid. They then steal the working blink drive and peace out of that messed up world, but I have no doubt that’s the last time the Raza crew will journey to a parallel universe. They end up picking up Nyx from Regulus 12, but Devon is nowhere to be seen. The episode ends with Two spasming again and passing out.

The Slow Descent of the Android

I know I’ve already theorized that the Android will betray the crew, but the further we get into these episodes, the more I’m convinced that she’s slowly changing. Early on in the episode, she has a conversation with Five that feels way more damning than the show lets on:

Five: “We’ll have the FTL up and running but that won’t get us home”
Android: “But this ship is our home.”
Five: “I mean, back to our reality.”
Android: “What difference does it make? Whether here or there, there’s nothing for us but this ship. And each other.”

It’s almost creepy how protective the Android has become the ship and it’s crew. She sounds like she’s about 3 episodes away from saying, “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Dave.” There’s no doubt that the Android loves her crew, but now I’m concerned about how she might handle the possibility of a member (say, Four) trying to leave.

Four and his home world of Zairon

Speaking of Four, his trip to the multiverse may have been the most harmful. While Six is aware he died in this universe and I have no doubt that Five is also dead (hence the fRaza’s ownership of the blink drive), Four saw what his future would be like if he gave up his life on the Raza and went to save his homeland. Portia and Boone give Four a hard time, telling him that their Ryo wouldn’t be such a pushover and while his demeanor is unfazed, it’s hard to imagine those words don’t sit with him. Similar to the Android, it looks like it’s only a matter of time before he’s pushed to his limits and makes some bad decisions.

The Difference Five Makes

I say it almost every week, but Five (and One, may he RIP) is the reason why the crew is the way they are. Two admits it to some extent, but it’s Six this week who reminds her of her place on the Raza:

“You know why our Two and Three aren’t like them? Because of you.”

And it’s true. Oh, so true.

That being said, Two still retains the ability to be more Portia-like when necessary. I’m simultaneously impressed and terrified by the darkness that inhabits Two and how quickly she can bring it up to use. Three has a much harder time being as ruthless as his pre-amnesia self.

Things that Changed in the Parallel Universe

I think it’s interesting to note all the changes we saw in the episode compared to what we know of the world of Dark Matter. Here’s a totally not comprehensive list of those changes:

Six and presumably Five are dead, which means the Raza never had their memories wiped.
Wexler and Tash, along with the real Corso at some point, join up with the Raza.
The Raza gets the blink drive (probably from Five) much earlier in the timeline, which speeds up the whole “war amongst the corporations” thing. They seem to side with NAME.
Portia Lin destroys Dwarf Star Technologies (and I assume Alexander Rook along with it).
The crew is never arrested and therefore never meets Devon or Nyx.
The Raza works closely with Ferrous Corp, doing damage to Mikkei and Traugott wherever possible.
Four is Emperor of Zairon.
Portia and Boone are intimate, as well as Boone and Tash.
Corso plots a coup to overthrow Portia.

I’m sure I missed a bunch of other changes. Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Other Random Thoughts

I thought this was another solid episode for Dark Matter, but I have to concede there are a few consistency issues that are getting to me as a fan. I don’t mind cliffhanger endings, but the ones at the end of each episode are beginning to feel like a tease. We end with another hint at the drop in Two’s health and it seems we might get a resolution to that next week, but what about some of the other cliffhangers?

Also, at the end of last week it seemed like the Raza was on its last leg. How did they survive the blink drive jump to the parallel universe AND the onslaught by Mikkei?

I said it last week and I’ll say it again: I’m craving a more light-hearted episode, and soon. The show has its funny moments, like Three saying to Tash, “You hit like a super fit well-trained scary scary girl”, but I need more. There needs to be a change of pace to earn that danger the crew is always in. If they’re always in peril, then it lessens the emotional investment of those dangerous situations.

WHAT THE WHAT. DID COMMANDER TRUFFAULT MIB FOUR AND SIX?!

dark matter 208 men in black — *Ain’t no M.I.B.’s, can I please*

Dark Matter airs Fridays on Syfy at 10pm EST.

‘Killjoys’: 7 Crazy Things You Need To Know In ‘Full Metal Monk’

Nicole C

August 19, 2016

Killjoys Season 2,
Episode 7: “Full Metal Monk”
Air Date: August 19, 2016

On Killjoys things go from bad to worse for everyone on Team Awesome Force but we do learn lots of new things like how Aneela and Khlyen are connected and what the wall does. While The Company’s plans and the ties to the Nine and Khlyen are still a mystery, the show continues to do a great job in giving audiences an action-packed narrative that’s filled with unexpected twists and turns. Despite serious challenges various characters face, the witty dialogue is always on point and never fails to induce amusement. Killjoys manages to balance a wide array of tones with aplomb. Bravo!

This week’s episode is no exception. Here are the 7 crazy things you need to know:

Dutch Confronts Johnny at Spring Hill, Asks Pawter to Rescue Him

Johnny’s jig is up so to speak as Dutch came to visit him while imprisoned inside Spring Hill for breaking and entering Jelco’s office last week. The poor killjoy was beaten pretty badly, but that couldn’t hold a candle to the look of hurt and betrayal in Dutch’s eyes as she confronts him for lying to her. He was the person she trusted most and now she feels completely betrayed that he didn’t tell her about his and Pawter’s plans. Johnny is in a hard place as he explains that while of Dutch and D’Avin are his team, he’s in love with Pawter. She then messages the Qreshi royal to come get him out and Johnny asks why she even came. Dutch answers, “habit.” Ouch.

D’Avin Can Make Eyes Explode

This week D’Av manifests a new interesting ability after he and Turin go hunting for 6’s in Old Town. The senior RAC officer is reluctant to believe that one of his former colleagues is a 6 since the man had saved his ass at least four times in the past. Before they can talk to said individual in a calm fashion, the 6 catches them off guard with an attack. As he begins to choke D’Avin to death, his eyeballs begin to bug out and then explodes into a gooey mess of plasma and blood. That’s new.

Pawter Frees Johnny From Spring Hill, But Everything Goes to Crap After

Pawter comes to the rescue as she turns her autocratic dial to 10 and commands Jelco to release Johnny as his sovereign. The Company officer eventually acquiesces but soon contacts Delle Seyah to get further instructions. It seems that Seyah Kendry has her hands in all sorts of places.

The two lovebirds then spend the rest of their time trying to figure out how The Company plans to cull the citizens of Old Town. After failing to find any kind of poison in the water or the air, they figure out that it must be in the food. They meet the ex-prison guard from episode 2 who is now Old Town’s guy for Company rations. He’s supposed to be getting a shipment of extra special stuff and Pawter and Johnny realize that this must be how the poison is going to be delivered.

They head back to the Royale to the doctor’s old quarters where the two begin to act highly giddy and optimistic despite their highly serious mission. Pawter is also waiting for Arune, her only ally from the Nine that’s willing to back her up as long as she has proof that the Company is planning to do something terrible to Old Town. When the man arrives, he believes that both Johnny and Pawter are high because they are certainly acting like it.

Jelco appears soon after and explains that basically he’s activated the true purpose of the wall (as instructed by Delle Seyah) and that’s is to render everyone within it completely content and complacent. He shoots Arune and has Pawter and Johnny pose in front of the dead body for a picture in order to frame them. The killjoy tries to fight it but without a protective patch, he is unable to shake the effects.

The two depart the Royale happy and in love without a care in the world.

Dutch and D’Av Head To Leith to See Olan

Meanwhile Dutch and D’Av go to Leith to try and find out if Olan has deciphered anything from Khlyen’s transmission. She mentions the name Aneela and he goes bananas, triggering a vision overload. Aneela FYI is the mysterious woman who looks exactly like Dutch but we don’t know why. Olan then begins to write on the wall in the old Scarback language. Alvis doesn’t know what it all says but he takes out the human skin bookmark and tells them that he’s seen some of the same symbols on it. The monk does point out a few characters that he knows like Arkyn and plague. The young man then explains that it’s a map to rivers on Arkyn, he felt water and people drowning and screaming. While there are no rivers currently on the moon, there had been a couple of hundred years ago.

Alvis Joins Team Awesome Force and They Find Another Safe House

On Arkyn, the two killjoys and the monk eventually find another large mirrored cube in a nearly dried up riverbed. Nothing happens when Alvis or D’Av place their hands on the cube’s surface but as soon as Dutch does an entryway is made. However once they are inside Dutch says that this is different because the walls aren’t translucent though D’Av points out that there isn’t a red box either. All of a sudden the lights go off and the cube becomes the universe’s worst secret elevator. The former assassin screams stop and luckily their descent stops. They’ve dropped into a very eerie and abandoned facility.

This place is likely the predecessor of Red 17. As they explore, there’s nothing but dusty junk until some dead yet creepily preserved bodies pop up. D’Av believes that they guys were going through the level 6 process but didn’t survive. The green plasma explains why they are still juicy despite being there for who knows how long.

They Discover A Very Old, But Alive Monk

Soon after Alvis finds another chamber with a very alive person walled in. The wall in fact appears to be just like the one currently around Westerly. Alvis tries to talk to the old man but he can’t seem to hear anything is appears to be muttering something. The Scarback determines that the dude in the cage is one of their ancients. There were ten bodies outside plus this guy and the other one in the mine makes the 12 monks who came to fight the devil.

Dutch shots the control panel, which deactivates the wall, but as soon as the old man sees her he goes level 6 on them and tries to kill her (while screaming deeeeeevil!!). Obviously he thinks she’s Aneela. In order to calm him down, D’Av has to use his special plasma controlling abilities and eventually he is able to soothe the old monk through coaching from Alvis.

Aneela Is Khlyen’s Daughter?

Once calmed, Alvis tells the old monk in their old tongue that Dutch is not Aneela. His response back is that he understands but respectfully disagrees and welcomes her back to hells. Frustrated, the former assassin cuts herself to prove that she’s not a level 6. Still unconvinced he asks who sent her and she shows him a picture of Khlyen. He tells Alvis that he knows that man but she called him by a different name, father. Holy crap! So Khlyen casually forgot to mention to Dutch that she looked exactly like his daughter. Well now it makes sense why he’s so protective of her.

The old monk still believes that Dutch is Aneela and begs her to kill him. D’Av turns out to be the voice of reason and advocates that he gets to decide how much is too much pain. She asks for forgiveness before killing him and with hatred in his eyes he says no. Well yikes.

I’m still thinking that Dutch could be a clone of Aneela that Khlyen hid from his daughter so that Aneela couldn’t kill her before she was battle ready. Perhaps the former assassin is the only person who can actually take on his child as a genetic copy.

Final Thoughts

It’ll be interesting to see how the wall, the level 6’s, Aneela, The Company, and the plans of Delle Seyah and Khlyen all fit in together
Likely Pawter/Johnny and Dutch/D’Av are fighting the same fight just from different angles
So we know that the wall makes people happy and complacent and that The Company will be culling the herd via poisoned rations but what is the end game? Why are they doing this? Are they planning to take the strongest and turn them into 6’s to fight this looming threat that is heading to the Quad?
Could Aneela have joined this new threat which is why Khlyen wants Dutch to kill her?

Killjoys airs Fridays on Syfy at 9/8 central.

Images courtesy of Syfy.

‘Dead of Summer’ Recap: “The Devil Inside”

Alyssa Berkowitz

August 19, 2016

Dead of Summer
Season 1, Episode 8: “The Devil Inside”
Tuesday, August 16, 2016

This week on Dead of Summer an unexpected eclipse passes over Camp Stillwater, the lake monster begins to emerge, and Alex is a tool.

It is 1988 in Chicago and Jessie is on her way home to prep for her upcoming admissions interview with Northwestern. When she gets home she finds that her mom is throwing a rager with pot, booze and the works with the sweet tunes of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” playing in the background.

Jessie is concerned for two reasons:

This is not a conducive environment to prep for an interview
Her mom has a previous possession charge, so if she gets caught, she is screwed.

Two days later, it is finally time for Jessie to show Northwestern what she is made of. The only problem is her mom, who promised to drive her to the interview, is nowhere to be found. So yet again Jessie is forced to fend for herself. She quickly rummages through her mother’s closet to assemble an interview outfit (which thank god is more appropriate than the revealing cocktail dress her mom wanted her to wear) and gets her ass to Northwestern.

Even though Jessie is extremely late to her interview, her charm, wit, and intelligence wins over the Northwestern Admissions man, and they tell her she is a perfect fit for the school. When she tells her mom the exciting news her mom doesn’t seem too excited. After a few minutes though she musters up some fake enthusiasm and declares they should go out and celebrate.

Momma Tyler celebrates a little too hard and ends up a bit drunk. Jessie offers to drive the pair home, but her obstinate mother refuses to hand over her keys. Her mom continues to act like a toddler by accusing Jessie of being selfish for wanting to go to college. When her mom tells her that she never actually thought Jessie would go to college you can see the pain on Jessie’s face, and hear it in her voice. She has worked her ass off not only to get into school but also to afford school and the whole time her mom was just humoring her.

They get in the car and as Jessie’s mom pulls out of the parking lot they predictably get into a crash. This is a problem though because Jessie’s mom has prior, so she forces Jessie to switch seats with her before the cops come. Jessie tries to protest, saying that if she gets arrested it will ruin her chances at Northwestern but her mom does not care. She retorts with “Northwestern? I’m your mother! I have spent my whole life looking after you.” And that is how Jessie got that DUI she has to go to court for.

While I really enjoyed Jessie’s backstory and actually think it was my favorite so far of the season there are two major flaws that have been bugging me:

Jessie offered to drive them home when they left the bar because she knew her mom was drunk. Wouldn’t that indicate that Jessie wasn’t drunk? If so how did she get charged with a DUI? (unless she has like a sip of beer and they registered it and any BAC in a minor is illegal?)
Jessie’s mom’s head hit the steering wheel in the accident. Did the cops not notice that when they got there?

Camp Stillwater 1989

Jessie is on the staff lounge phone talking to her mom. Wait, if there is a phone in the Staff Lounge why didn’t Deb just say, “Hey guys, if you want to call home you can use that phone that is always accessible to you in the staff lounge. If that is occupied by one of the 4 other counselors allowed in the lounge, feel free to use THE OTHER phone that is in my cabin” after Cricket died?

Anywhoo…. Deb meets with the important staff members to let them know what’s going on:

Deb: “What they have determined for sure…”
Drew: “….Is that Stillwater sucks at vetting sheriffs.”

Zingggg! Score one for Drew!

Deb tells them that it has been amazing to watch them, and only them, become close over the past few weeks. And it is because of this closeness that it is so hard to tell them that she is shutting down the camp.

Deb: “The authorities have given me 48 hours before they release the story to the media. After that, the camp will be filled with cops and reporters. You won’t even recognize this place and I wanna protect the kids from them.”

It doesn’t even seem to cross Deb’s mind that when the story breaks every single parent will immediately get their kid the hell out of this camp. Instead, Deb’s main takeaway is that the kids need to be protected from the media. Those bear traps? Nah. Demon Cult followers? Meh. The media: PROTECT THE KIDS AT ALL COST.

She informs them that it will take the top-notch bus she hired 24 hours to get to camp, so they have a day to help the kids pack. Amy is having none of this and goes “Guys, we all remember what happened after Cricket’s death. The kids need to be occupied so let’s give them a fun day to remember.”

The crew goes on to commence their memorable last day at Camp Stillwater when they notice a random eclipse in the sky.

As Jessie looks up she falls into a shroom like trance and gets transported to an alternate reality. And who is in this alternate reality ? FrankenCricket WITH BEAR TRAP SCAR MARKINGS ON HER FACE!!!!!!

FrankenCricket tells Jessie not to turn around because she cannot see the Krampus-esque monster emerging from the lake behind her. Also “it has begun” and the only way to stop the apocalypse is to throw Holyoke’s bones in the lake. She tells Jessie that everyone is out to fuck with her mind…. So trust no bitch. When Jessie looks back up into the sky, she is transported back to present day.

Blair thinks that the eclipse was Stillwater saying goodbye. If by “Stillwater” you mean “the devil” and by “goodbye” you mean “all hell is about to break loose” I would say you are right on the money Blair.

Jessie and Amy lead the campers to the middle of the woods to play blind man’s bluff. When Jessie starts freaking out while being blindfolded though she tells Amy about FrankenCricket’s message.

Amy: “That doesn’t sound like Cricket. That sounds like Holyoke trying to trick you. If Cricket was going to contact someone don’t you think she would have contacted Blair. He was her best friend”
Jessie: “It really felt like her Amy.”

Amy responding with “That doesn’t sound like Cricket” cracked me up. I’m still laughing about it as I write this paragraph, because really? That is the response you give when someone tells you a friend has been talking shit behind your back. Not when a friend tells you that they have been talking to a dead person. Then she goes on with, “let’s be logical here, you and Cricket weren’t even that close. Why would her ghost even want to talk to you? We all know that ghosts only contact their gay best friend and since you are not Blair, it couldn’t have been Cricket!”

Jessie leaves Amy and the campers to meet up with Garrett. Garrett is still overwhelmed by the previous night’s events, but that won’t stop him from his mission to squash the evil in Stillwater. And the only way to defeat this big bad is to kill the vessel (aka Amy). Jessie tells him that actually, FrankenCricket told her a non Amy-killing way to stop the demon. Next stop, the Stillwater Morgue to steal 100-year-old bones. Jessie sneaks into the morgue and successfully finds Holyoke’s bones. As she about to leave though, Damon and the rest of the dead crew come back to life and start chanting “MALPHUS IS HERE! MALPHUS IS RISING!” Suffice to say this lights a fire under Jessie’s ass and she bolts the hell out of there with Holyoke’s bones in hand.

The rest of the counselors are at the tennis court with a few campers. We all know that the only way to make the last day of camp the best day ever is to just force kids to play tennis. Blind man’s bluff and TENNIS: what all camp memories are made of. Amy stops by the courts and Alex tells her that his offer to “show her around camp” still stands. He literally says “If there’s anything you want to squeeze in before, you know. All your memories here don’t have to be bad.”

Amy kindly declines his offer and goes on to tell Joel about Jessie’s “crazy plan” because Amy is definitely not evil or possessed right now and just wants to protect a friend. Instead of helping Amy stop Jessie, Joel formulates his own plan to destroy Holyoke: burn down his cabin. As he is dousing the old wooden cabin with gasoline though, the door to the cabin mysteriously opens and he finds a book that reveals the folk-lore of all the lands.

Joel rushes to find Jessie and Garrett to show them the book. He tells them that the evil demon’s name is Malphus and that he is the “prince of hell.” In turn, they tell Joel that Malphus is most likely possessing Amy and that they may need to kill her. Joel refuses to believe Amy is a demon until he has proof. Luckily that little book he found in Holyoke’s cabin contains a step by step demon test. All they have to do is say “Malphus” a few times in front of Amy and press a few crosses on her body and they will know if she is a demon. Jessie and Garrett try all this on Amy but nothing seems to happen. And then Alex barges in and ruins everything. He shoves Garrett and yells at everyone “How DARE you demon test Amy! After all she did for us?” Over react much Alex? The test involved saying someone’s name and having her hold a cross, it’s not like they were performing an exorcism.

Jessie heads down to the lake with her bag of bones to contemplate her life. As she stares into the distance FrankenCricket appears to her again to convince Jessie to dump Holyoke’s remains in the lake. If she doesn’t the creepy demonic creature currently emerging from the lake will be released!

That is when Drew comes to check in on his bestie Jessie. He tells her that she is the reason that he started letting people in:

Drew: Knowing I can trust you made me think about everything completely differently. Just listen to yourself. To that voice in your head.

Guys, I have so many camp friendship feelings I can’t even handle it.

Taking Drew’s advice to heart, Jessie runs to the dock to throw Holyoke in the lake. Joel tries and fails to stop her and as soon as those bones hit the water, the pair is transported back in time. They witness the night that Holyoke apparently convinced a ton of people to commit mass suicide and learn that isn’t quite what happened. Holyoke was actually performing a mass purification ritual when a bunch of wooden horse mask wearing men murdered all of Holyoke’s followers. Jessie and Joel follow him to his cabin and he tells them “You think you know, but you have NO IDEA! This is this is the Diary of Holyoke.” Turns out that Holyoke is a good guy. Also even though Amy passed the demon test, the demon still lives inside of her. He tells them that he will save her, and absolutely under no circumstances should they kill her or the demon will become even more powerful.

Jessie gathers the clique together (sans Alex and Amy) to discuss the new plan. Deb ambushes this meeting though and demands that someone tell her the goddamn truth about what is going on. See all day, Deb has been wandering around the woods asking every counselor to let her in on the gossip. I mean, it isn’t like Deb has anything more important to do with it being the day before camp ends and every media outlet in the midwest storms Camp Stillwater. Every time she asked a counselor they successfully dodged the question and Deb would just sulk away. Not this time though. This time she is getting answers to the reason that there was a random eclipse just like the one she saw in 1970, and why she had ghost sex with her ex. So the counselor’s decide to finally let Deb in on the scoop and tell her that Amy is possessed by a demon and that they need to find her. Garrett flips out when Deb tells them that she gave Alex and Amy the night off to bone at Eagle Creek because Eagle creek is the fifth point on the map. Off to Eagle Creek they go.

Over at Eagle Creek, Alex and Amy are looking up at the stars:

Alex: “Last time I was supposed to stargaze was with Cricket.”

Amy responds to this comment by mounting Alex and then things start getting hot and heavy. I think this is a good time to remind everyone that it has been literally FOUR DAYS since Cricket died.

When Joel, Jessie, Garrett and Deb arrive at the scene, possessed Amy pulls a knife to Alex’s neck. The crew tries to talk her down, and for a hot second it looks like the old Amy is back, but then Amy goes ahead and slits Joel’s throat. NOOOO! Why couldn’t it have been Alex! To make things worse Garrett goes and shoots Amy a bunch of times. You know the thing that Holyoke said that under no circumstances they should do or else the demon would get stronger. Ugh, guys and their guns man. Out of nowhere, Holyoke materializes, snatches Amy, and brings her to his cabin. While Deb runs to camp to “save the kids” everyone else heads to Holyoke’s cabin to get the Amy Exorcism Party started.

RIP Joel, I wish Alex could take your place.

Other things I noticed:

Is anyone else a little concerned that Joel doused Holyoke’s cabin with gasoline and now there are a bunch of candles flaming around inside?
Why is Alex just walking around the woods with a folded up American flag?
The Stillwater Morgue chalkboard… I just can’t

Final Fantasy XV English Voice Actors Revealed in Kingsglaive

Bilal Mian

August 18, 2016

We may finally know the voice actors behind Square Enix’s upcoming Final Fantasy XV.

An extra scene at end of the credits of Kingsglaive, the Final Fantasy XV movie tie-in, introduces viewers to the main cast of upcoming game – Noctis Lucis Caelum, Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, and Prompto Argentum.

The short clip has the four men bantering during their road trip as they tease Noctis about his upcoming nuptials to Lunafreya when the car breaks down.

Those that have been following Final Fantasy XV will quickly pickup that the end credit scene serves as a lead-in to the start of the game where the four men are found pushing the broken down car along the road.

As the scene fades to black, a list of credits appear detailing the characters and their voice actors.

The characters and their voice actors are the following:

Noctis – Ray Chase
Ignis – Adam Croasdell
Gladiolus – Chris Parsons
Prompto – Robbie Daymond

Final Fantasy XV was recently delayed to November 29 from its original September 30 release date in order to “allow the development teams time to further polish and conduct quality testing.”

Game director Hajime Tabata had the following to say about the delay. ““From the moment we joined this project, our vision was to create a level of freedom and realism previously unseen in the series. Regrettably, we need a little bit more time to deliver on this vision and are confident that this new release date will help us achieve this.”

Those interested in watching Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV will be able to catch it’s limited release in theaters on August 19 or purchase it digitally on August 30.

What do you think of the English voice actors? Let us know in the comments below!

Why All The Hate For ‘Metroid Prime: Federation Force’?

James Mikolajewski

August 18, 2016

This month marks the 30^th anniversary of the beloved Nintendo series, Metroid. To celebrate, Nintendo is releasing a brand new game in the Metroid Prime series (sort of), and yet, Metroid fans are outraged. What could cause such hate? They must have gotten their hands on the game early to know that it’s absolute garbage, right? Wait, you mean all of this hate is for a game that hasn’t even released yet?

Well, let’s look at the path Metroid Prime: Federation Force took to release, the fans’ response, and, in a way, how Nintendo has already declared it dead in the water before it’s August 19th release date.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force was announced for the Nintendo 3DS on June 16, 2015 at that year’s E3. From the opening moments of the trailer, fans took to message boards, every social media outlet possible, and even the official Nintendo YouTube page to show their disdain for the project (and to this day it still stands as the most unliked video on YouTube). What was it about this video that caused fans to react so poorly in such a big way? Well, I think it comes down to a multitude of smaller issues.

The Waiting Game

First, Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, hinted at a new Metroid game for a long time, even going so far as to wear a special Metroid pin to 2013’s Game Awards. When asked about the project, he would coyly respond in vague terms, causing fans to build the hype in their own minds. Second, we haven’t seen a proper Metroid game since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption back in 2007, unless you count fan-made remakes that are quickly taken down (I think we can all agree to forget the debacle that was Metroid: Other M in 2009). Finally, Retro Games deciding to stick with Donkey Kong Country and create Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for WiiU, instead of working on a new Metroid, made fans even more bitter. With all of the waiting and anticipation, fans were only building into a flurry of expectations that could never be met.

I must admit that I feel pretty bad for Next Level Games. No matter what they created, no matter how great it could be, it was always going to be hated. If you look at the company’s track record, they have made many fantastic games with Nintendo’s IP, including: Super Mario Strikers and Super Mario Strikers Charged, Punch Out for the Wii, and the amazing Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, a sequel to one of my all-time favorite GameCube games (and actually tops the original in some areas). Years of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this game, only to be trampled on by the masses before release. I can only image how crushed the studio must feel.

Media Misrepresentation

With our current generation that practically lives on the internet, it’s easy to put out the negative. It gets the loudest response and riles up the biggest conversations (just look at our local news, reality shows, and social media posts). We quickly jump to conclusions and hop on bandwagons once something has already been stepped on. It’s the cool thing to do. Plus, with the anonymity of the internet, you never feel that you have to take responsibility for your actions. However, often times, people forgot how their actions will affect the creators, which is very sad.

The Changes to the Metroid Formula

Let’s look at why Nintendo is making, what many fans think, to be such a drastic change to the Metroid Formula. First, even though it has a dedicated following, sales have never been one of Metroid’s strong points. The best-selling Metroid in the history of the franchise, Metroid Prime on GameCube, only sold 2.82 million copies. That’s a far cry from something like Super Mario Sunshine, which sold 5.91 million copies on the same system. Metroid has always been a lower selling series when compared to Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, or any of the other popular Nintendo IPs.

Second, Nintendo is known for shaking up the formula, giving us things we never knew we wanted until we got our hands on them. Without their desire to change and innovate, we would never gotten Super Mario 64, instead sticking to the 2D roots of Mario, with games like New Super Mario Bros. Even the Metroid series itself went through a drastic change that no one saw coming. Metroid in first person? That will never work! Now it a staple in a much loved franchise.

Giving the Game a Chance

Looking at the game itself, Nintendo appears to be trying to cater to fans while also giving them something new. Without feeding the negative beast that is currently Metroid Prime: Federation Force, I am here to give a few reasons why I think you should at least give it a try before placing judgement. It’s the first person-shooter perspective people are expecting, set in the amazing world of the Metroid series people love; only this time, you get to enjoy it with your friends. This adds a fun co-op / competitive nature to the experience. They’ve even added a special competitive mode known as Blast Ball (which you can currently get on the 3DS eShop for free).

Many complain that because Samus is not the main character (although she does appear in the game as an AI), it has ruined the entire experience. I don’t see it that way at all. Did Captain Toad Treasure Tracker ruin the Super Mario 3D World experience? Of course not. In my opinion, I see this as more of a side-story to the Metroid franchise. In this game you get to battle alongside Samus Aran and the other members of your Federation Force squad, fighting a unified threat and expanding the world of Metroid outside of the small bubble of the Samus Aran story.

The sad thing is, knowing Nintendo, they will weigh the sales of this game on the future of the Metroid franchise. If this game doesn’t sell to their expectations, they will put their resources into another series that they feel will help the bottom line. Metroid would return to the backburner.

With the original response to this game from the fans, Nintendo’s expectations can’t be too high. They have already cut most advertising for the project. Outside of a new trailer hitting a week before the games release, Nintendo has been absolutely silent on the project since the 2015 E3 debacle. They can’t spend money on a game they feel won’t sell. From a business perspective, they still need to make back their development costs. Nintendo only does one thing: make games. So, they need to make sure, even when giving fans what they want, they can get their return on investment.

If you still decide that Metroid Prime: Federation Force is not your cup of tea, that’s fine. All I ask is that the next time you decide to hate something before you even give it a try, just work a little harder to have an open mind, if only for the peace-of-mind of the developers who worked so hard to bring that project to life. If after you’ve gotten your hands on it, and still think it’s not worth your time, at least you know you have the proof to back it up. Just remember: Video Games are made to have fun. It’s the reason we love this hobby, and what binds us together. We all may like different flavors, but we all still enjoy the same thing. There’s no room for hate in a world that’s made for fun.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force launches August 19th on the Nintendo 3DS.

‘Scream’ 2nd season finale: [SPOILER] is the killer!

Matt Perri

August 18, 2016

SCREAM
Season 2, Episode 12
“When a Stranger Calls”
Airdate: August 16, 2016
GRADE: D+

***IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BLOW THE SURPRISE THE ENTIRE SEASON HINGED ON, STOP READING NOW. SERIOUSLY. STOP. DON’T READ FROM HERE. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.***

The second season of MTV’s “Scream” ends the way it began: a rushed hodge-podge of ideas crammed into 47 minutes of television…and everything was going so well. After the “masterpieces” (and I use the word, “masterpieces” against my good judgement) that were “Heavenly Creatures” and “The Vanishing”, “When a Stranger Calls” seems content to unfortunately revert to what makes the show a borderline unwatchable mess.

The episode’s hook is that Emma and Audrey are on the run after The Killer manages to hijack the squad car they’re in — and then freeing them. Why? Because The Killer likes to play with their food before they eat it, as has been illustrated so many times this season. That little tidbit renders last week’s set-up completely pointless. We all know that Ghost McMeltFace is good at drawing out the Lakewood Six every single time despite Noah’s constant meta-soaked warnings (a bit where Brooke pleads with Noah to “stop going meta” on her made me want to throw a brick at my television) and the assumed intelligence of the characters. Last episode, The Killer framed the girls for murder. This episode, he frees them…so why go to the trouble of framing them? The idea here is that Emma and Audrey are fugitives from the law and they can’t turn themselves in because, if they do, the Killer will kill somebody Emma cares about. But, The Killer could do that anyway, so why would you frame them?

“You’re gonna be in Ten Most Wanted territory if you don’t watch out!” Noah tells the girls over the phone when they call him. Really? They’ve been missing for less than 24 hours and that’s enough for Noah to portray them as criminals who belong on a list once occupied by Osama Bin Laden? The incredibly useless Ms. Lang thinks the girls are crazy because they have a shared psychosis. ‘Stavo’s on the “guilty” bandwagon, too, so that causes yet another break between Brooke and some dude. It’s bad enough Brooke’s father is dead. “He wasn’t always the best Dad, but he was…there,” she tells Noah. Jesus, neither of those things are compliments. It’s hard to feel anything here because Brooke’s Dad just kinda vanished into the ether and popped up every so often, acting slimy and bringing Keiran’s aunt into his blackmail schemes which, if I’m remembering correctly, allowed him near-unchecked power over the entire town. I don’t know about you, but I have so many feels.

So, the big reveal is that (SPOILER – click and drag for it) Keiran is The Killer. It’s not entirely disappointing. It’s far better than the whole “Piper is the Killer” ending last year and much of the final sequence is fairly suspenseful. It’s just fairly predictable and his motive is weak: he’s pissed off because he and Piper were together before the initial murders and he didn’t like how Emma’s mom tossed Piper out of their place. His overall plan is to kill his own father, then Emma…then Emma’s mom. This, after he becomes “a hero” for solving what the Lakewood Police were “too dumb to solve.” So, to recap, he’s going to be a hero “for stopping Lakewood’s murder spree” only to murder Emma’s mom…thus, restarting the murder spree? Why didn’t he just murder Emma’s mom first?

That’s one of many questions one might have. Others might include why Brooke’s dad offered Tina Hudson $15,000 to leave Lakewood. Or how Keiran suddenly became a technological mastermind capable of hacking computer systems from a fairly large distance. Or how Noah was able to recover from a massive stab wound so quickly and leave his hospital bed, in order to help Emma and Audrey, completely undetected by any hospital staff. Or why none of the hospital staff reported a missing patient which might have lead the police to the kids. Or why Audrey goes from 0 to Murderous when Emma traps and corners Keiran. Or why the movie theater lobby has REAL STABBING WEAPONS in a glass case. Or why Keiran would say something a) that makes zero sense in the moment and b) is virtually the same thing the Killer said to her which gave him away in two seconds. Or why the police don’t suspect Emma and Audrey when they enter Keiran‘s murder room and find the girls torturing Keiran. Sadly, the series seems a lot more interested in forgetting all this and, instead, focuses on using the last few moments of the episode setting up for a future season which is beyond wishful thinking at this point.

The episode is sloppy as they come and really could have benefited from another hour in order to give the story more time to cook and expand. For what it’s worth, MTV teased some sort of “Halloween Episode” of the series, so regardless of the series’ fate, fans might get some questions answered (which just makes the “finale” seem even more cheap) but, overall, it’s probably for the best that this show get axed. Or stabbed. Or whatever you want to call it. “When a Stranger Calls” was a dud, sacrificing storytelling for half-assed plot devices, holes you could drive a tank through and cheap teasers for an as-of-yet non-existent third season. The second year, on the whole, was a slight improvement but still suffers from laziness, without fail, when it really counts.

(NOTE: Thanks for following me through two seasons of this show! I will see if I come back to cover a third season. As of this time, MTV has not yet renewed the show.)

‘Shadowhunters’ Casts Nick Sagar as Victor Aldertree

Nicole C

August 17, 2016

With production of Shadowhunters season 2 underway, the show has cast Nick Sagar (The Haves and the Have Nots) in a recurring role.

According to Deadline, he will be playing Victor Aldertree, a Clave representative who arrives at the New York Institute after Jace’s (Dominic Sherwood) departure with Valentine (Alan Van Sprang) in the season 1 finale. He could be taking Lydia Branwell’s (Stephanie Bennett) position after her almost wedding with Alec Lightwood (Matthew Daddario). You can’t blame a gal for wanting to go back to Idris after that.

If the name Aldertree sounds familiar to book fans of Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instrument series, in City of Glass a member of the Aldertree family became Inquisitor after the death of Imogen Herondale (Mimi Kuzyk). Based on Clare’s popular novels, Shadowhunters follows the journey of 18 year old Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara) who discovers that she’s part angel and is thrust into a world where demons, vampires, werewolves, and faeries exist.

Can’t wait to hear more casting news from the show and in the meantime, here are more behind the scenes looks:

Here we go Jocelyn… ➰ #ShadowhuntersSeason2 #trailerready

A photo posted by Maxim Roy (@maximroy_) on Aug 12, 2016 at 2:59pm PDT

Mother-daughter time with photo-bomber in background. ➰ #shadowhuntersseason2 #Jocelyn #Clary #Maryse #Isabelle

A photo posted by Maxim Roy (@maximroy_) on Aug 16, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT

What?!? Mama Fray AND Mama Lightwood on set! (Featuring photobomb expert level by @isaiahmustafa) @shadowhunterstv

A photo posted by Katherine McNamara (@kitkatsmeow) on Aug 13, 2016 at 6:55am PDT

How many can ya fit onto the treadmill? I don’t think this is what they meant when they told us to workout as a team. @emeraudetoubia @albertorosende @nunodesalles76 @shadowhunterstv #FitnessFriday

A photo posted by Harry Shum Jr (@harryshumjr) on Aug 12, 2016 at 12:33pm PDT

‘Day off’ = Jace training day

A video posted by Dom Sherwood (@domsherwood) on Aug 12, 2016 at 11:01am PDT

Master photobomber indeed!!!

A photo posted by Isaiah Mustafa (@isaiahmustafa) on Aug 15, 2016 at 10:05am PDT

Shadowhunters season 2 will air on Freeform sometime in 2017.

<img class="tdb-logo-img" src="https://www.theworkprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/workprint_sahifa.png" alt="Logo" title="" width="190" height="60" data-eio="l" />

<img class="tdb-logo-img" src="https://www.theworkprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/workprint_sahifa.png" alt="Logo" title="" width="190" height="60" data-eio="l" />

Antihero (Versus Evil: PC, Mobile)

The American Dream (Samurai Punk: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Playstation VR – 2017)

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (Mimimi Productions: PC, XBox One, PS4 – Late 2016)

Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space!? (Daylight Studios: PC – Late 2016)

State of Mind (Daedalic Entertainment: PC, Xbox One, PS4 – 2017)

SMASH+GRAB (United Front Games: PC – 2016)

Mages of Mystralia (Borealys Games: PC – 2017)

Bleed 2 (Bootdisk Revolution: PC – 2017)

Crest (Eat Create Sleep: PC – 2017)

Hob (Runic Games: PS4, PC – 2017)

Tunnels & Trolls (MetaArcade – Late 2016)

Severed (Drinkbox Studios: Wii U, 3DS, PS Vita, iOS)

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games: PS4 – February 28, 2017)

Gears of War 4 (Microsoft Studios: Xbox One, PC- October 11, 2016)

Crashlands (Butterscotch Shenanigans: PC, iOS, Android)

Owlboy (D-pad Studio: PC – Fall 2016)

Dungeon Boss (Big Fish Games: iOS, Android)

Vikings: Wolves of Midgard (Kalypso: PC, Xbox, PS4 – 2017)

Urban Empire (Kalypso: PC – Winter 2016)

Mirage: Arcane Warfare (Torn Banner: PC)

Badass Hero (Awesome Games Studio – 2017)

Two and Five Quarrel

It’s a Mad, Mad World

The Android’s Existential Journey

The Descent of Four

Random Thoughts

Favorite Moments:

Eliot’s Journal

Becky’s Diary

Fisherman Joe’s Diary<img decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-18601 size-thumbnail" src="https://www.theworkprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Fisherman-Joe-150x150.jpg" alt="Fisherman Joe" width="150" height="150" data-eio="l" />

Mel’s Diary

Johnny’s Journal

Eliot’s Journal

Nyx and Four Hooked Up.

A Critical Stage of Failure

Technology In The Dark Matter Universe

Rebecca’s Return

Three and the Fisherman’s Wife

The Hot Chocolate Saga

Random Thoughts

Online Account System

Games – And Lots of Them

Price

Who is The Rival (aka Edward Clariss)

What Role Could He Play in Season 3

**SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FLASH SEASON 3**

The Slow Descent of the Android

Four and his home world of Zairon

The Difference Five Makes

Things that Changed in the Parallel Universe

Other Random Thoughts

Dutch Confronts Johnny at Spring Hill, Asks Pawter to Rescue Him

D’Avin Can Make Eyes Explode

Pawter Frees Johnny From Spring Hill, But Everything Goes to Crap After

Dutch and D’Av Head To Leith to See Olan

Alvis Joins Team Awesome Force and They Find Another Safe House

They Discover A Very Old, But Alive Monk

Aneela Is Khlyen’s Daughter?

Final Thoughts

The Waiting Game

Media Misrepresentation

The Changes to the Metroid Formula

Giving the Game a Chance

Fisherman Joe’s Diary

**Technology In The Dark Matter Universe**

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FLASH SEASON 3