June 2018 – Eric Watson

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 58 Recap

The Hunt for Hekaton begins as we follow-up with clues pointing to The K Society, and return to The Grand Dame.

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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

The Grand Dame looked exactly as we remembered, complete with surly captain outside demanding we turn over our weapons. We were in no mood for subtlety this time around.

I reached out with my mind, attempting to convince him that we were on official business, and needed to be escorted immediately to the captain’s quarters.

Whether through exhaustion at being teleported hundreds of miles in a matter of minutes or through sheer overconfidence, the man sneered at me in response. “You ain’t on no business.” He drew his weapon and the guard next to him did the same.

I switched tactics, spreading out my arms as a sign of complacency. “Hey friend, have you heard of the Graham Cracker Crew?”

The man sneered even further, the corners of his mouth threatening to leap off in opposite directions. “I heard of the Graham Cracker Crew. I don’t give two shits if that’s who you are. No weapons on this ship.”

I stumbled my way through a bullshit response, as Halfred crept up next to him. The Captain took a single step forward and Halfred launched himself, planting his head directly in the man’s gut. His eyes bulged, knees buckled, and his whole form seemed to fold in on itself as he teetered for a moment, then toppled over into the water below.

He cried out a yelp as he fell, and the other guard screamed and drew his weapon. We were getting in there, one way or another.

I originally named last week’s session “Into the Maelstrom p1,” but I cannot in good conscience name this week’s session part 2. Thanks to our dumb luck we skipped through the huge Storm Giant dungeon and were able to secure a private audience with their leader, Reagent Serissa, without so much as bumping into any other giants, and from there have already received our next quest – to find King Hekaton and restore the Ordning. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 58 Recap”

Westworld Season 2 Episode 8 “Kiksuya” Recap

The mysteries of the Ghost Nations are revealed.

Big, explosive episodes like last week’s are often followed by a much smaller, slower episode. Such is the case with our eighth episode of Westworld season two.

Yet most shows also don’t focus that episode almost entirely on a minor character, diving heavily into the past and answering questions that we didn’t really have in the first place. “Kiksuya” will most likely end up as the weakest episode of the season, and maybe even the series. Continue reading “Westworld Season 2 Episode 8 “Kiksuya” Recap”

E3 2018 Was All About the Leading Ladies [Pixelkin]

Read the full article at Pixelkin

Four years ago at E3 2014, Ubisoft blundered into a PR nightmare by weakly defending why both Assassin’s Creed Unity and Far Cry 4 lacked playable women characters in their multiplayer modes – they would require too much time and resources to animate.

Female representation in big, blockbuster games has been sporadic at best. Yes we can point to the same franchises like Metroid and Tomb Raider over and over again, but that just proves the point even more.

But there is good news. In recent years diversity and inclusion has become a major focus for many game developers and publishers. The fruits of those labors are beginning to show. We could call it the Overwatch or Wonder Woman Effect, or just a sign of many game companies hoping to avoid stagnation and seek out progressive voices and audiences.

At E3 2018 we were impressed with the number of women characters, both old and new, showcasing AAA games. In case you missed it, let’s run through the new era of leading ladies from E3 2018.

Read the full article at Pixelkin

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 57 Recap

We teleport inside the Storm Giant lair known as the Maelstrom, and immediately discover all the shortcuts.

Streamed, recorded and uploaded every week. Subscribe for our weekly adventures. Join us live on Fridays at 7pm Pacific/10pm Eastern!

Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

I felt the minutes tick by slowly, furtively glancing toward both the staircase and the pool of water.

Korinn returned first, still invisible. She reported that an entire delegation of Giants sat upstairs in some sort of concert or show, hosted by the Storm Giants. It wasn’t the kind of party we wanted to crash.

While we debated on how to handle it, the pool of water began rippling. A gigantic shark head emerged, crashing into the side, sending a water-logged T.I.M. sailing through the air.

He tucked, rolled, and sprang up on his feet. He immediately began babbling like an excited child as he pulled out magical treasures that he and Bryseis had discovered in their underwater excursion. “We found a whale and I made a seahorse friend! I accidentally killed a shark, then I killed two crabs. And I found some stuff. Oh and there’s a bunch of other entrances to other areas of the dungeon.”

We finally journeyed into the Maelstrom, the primary lair of the Storm Giants, via the teleporting conch shell we had grabbed from the Cloud Giants. Then we did what we always do: split the party and skip through the dungeon. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 57 Recap”

Goodreads Review: Sea of Rust

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not quite the post-apocalyptic summer blockbuster I was expecting. While there’s a solid chunk of explosive plasma-fueled action, it also dives deep into AI sentience, mental issues, and the uniquely harrowing civil war the robots find themselves in years after they killed all the humans. Protagonist Brittle has a delightfully sly human tone, making it a quick, fun read, but still poking at deeper, profound concepts of individuality, freedom, and sentience.

View all my reviews

Jurassic World Alive is a Better AR Game than Pokémon GO [Pixelkin]

Read the full feature at Pixelkin

I love Pokémon GO. I fell in love with the brilliant concept of hunting Pokémon in the real world and forgave the horrendous networking issues along with everyone else when it launched two years ago.

Jurassic World Alive borrows much of the basic gameplay and mechanics of Pokémon GO, using dinosaurs in place of Pokémon. Even if you’re not a big dino-fan, Jurassic World Alive improves upon Pokémon GO in several key areas, making it the AR game I’m more likely to play when I’m out.

Read the full feature at Pixelkin

Gaming Backlog Final Thoughts – Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

How well does the original Uncharted hold up a decade later?

Adventuring through my backlog of games, one game at a time.

Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: October 2015 (Originally Nov 2007 on PS3)
Played On: PlayStation 4

And so begins my grand backlog adventure into the Uncharted series.

I’ve never held any dedication or fandom toward Sony or Microsoft. I dabbled in the PS1, loved my PS2, and then skipped the entire PS3 generation in favor of the Xbox 360.

With this console generation I’ve returned to Sony with noticeable gaps in my gaming history. Thus much of my current backlog gaming will be dedicated to playing catch up some of the biggest PlayStation games of the last and current generation.

You already read my Final Thoughts on The Last of Us: Remastered. Now it’s time for Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, beginning with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Continue reading “Gaming Backlog Final Thoughts – Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune”