Seep – Gris

Animation is one of those mercurial arts that, unless you have tried your hand at it, it seems simultaneously so easy and also impossible. Draw pictures in a way that simulates movement? What magic is this? To animate requires a thorough understanding of not only how an object looks, but how it always looks, how…

2019 Honestly Amazing Thing Awards – Breakfast Recommendations #3

I might as well jump on the retrospective bandwagon and start up an annual (fingers crossed) awards series. Now, my first instinct was to opt for the best releases of the year, but while I've done plenty of catching up on shows I've been watching (for the most part), I tend to be actively bad…

3P Reviews: Game of Thrones, Season Eight, Episode One

Series Breakdown Rating: Characters: 4 Aesthetics: 7 Creativity: 5 Overall Plot: 7 Subplots: 5 Sum: 28/50   Spoilers: Please tell me how you would write a review of this episode without spoiling anything. Go on. Audience Assumptions: Some familiarity Preface Surprise, ma bitches! We're doing episodic reviews for this season! First, if you're sick of all…

3P Reviews: Firewatch

Series Breakdown Rating: Narrative: 7 Aesthetics and Style: 8 Creativity: 7 Environment: 8 Gameplay: 5 Sum: 35/50   Spoilers: Yes Audience Assumptions: None. A little familiarity with gaming lingo wouldn't hurt, I guess?   Firewatch   Part One: A Call for Short Games I often run into a problem with video games that has little to do…

What Makes a Good Monster?

Everyone loves a cool monster design. I recently came across a Twitter thread on the subject and it got me thinking about what goes into effective horror monsters. There are a lot of schools of thought regarding horror in general, and because it's such a broad genre, its appeal will vary quite a bit from…

3P Reviews: Psychonauts

    Spoilers: Yes (also minor spoiler for Psychonauts: In the Rhombus of Ruin, I guess?) Audience Assumptions: None Psychonauts   Part One: Raz Has a Fabulous Hat This was one of the most challenging reviews to write. I wanted to present something special for my 100th and end-of-year reviews, something near and dear to my heart.…

3P Reviews: Until Dawn

Series Breakdown Rating: Characters and Character Development: 5 Aesthetics and Style: 6 Creativity: 5 Overall Plot: 5 Gameplay: 6 Sum: 27/50   Spoilers: Yes Audience Assumptions: No assumptions   Until Dawn   Part One: Have You Ever Wanted to Yell at Inept Horror Protagonists? Now You Can Do That in a Video Game! Video games are almost…

3P Reviews: Don’t Starve

Breakdown Rating: Aesthetics: 8 Mechanics: 7 Challenge: 7 Pacing: 8 Depth: 8 Sum: 38/50   Spoilers: I guess? Audience Assumptions: None   Part One: How to Pace a Non-Story Well-crafted stories – that is, stories that are balanced by tight pacing, engaging narrative, cohesive structure, and artistic merit – can, in my opinion, outperform any…

3P Reviews: Long Live the Queen

Series Breakdown Rating: Plot: 6 Aesthetics: 5 Writing: 6 Mechanics: 6 Flow: 6 Sum: 29/50   Spoilers: Not really? Audience Assumptions: Some familiarity with video games (specifically Democracy 3)   Long Live the Queen   Part One: Do You Like Democracy 3 But Wish It Had More Anime Princesses? Buddy, Have I Got Some Good News! Here’s…

3P Reviews: ARK: Survival Evolved

After several years of development, during which it was released on Steam’s Early Access and several console platforms to wild popularity, ARK: Survival Evolved finally entered the market with that stamp of permanence – the full release – this past August. The full release of the game was met with little fanfare, as most people…