varingblaar

There Is No Antimemetics Division

2026-07-02T00:00:00Z

We spend all our time trying to remember things as accurately as possible. When a memory is formed, we remember our interpretation of something, not the factual thing. Emotions also change how something is remembered. Every time we recall a memory it is slightly altered, simplified, tweaked. Details are fuzzy so we make assumptions to fill the gaps and remember them as fact. Over time the story changes. This is why witness testimony is so tricky in court cases, and the longer the case goes on the less reliable it becomes.

But what if there are things out there, objects or places or people, that actively manipulate our memories? Not our perception, not make us hallucinate. You see the thing correctly, but it doesn't "save in your brain" the way it's supposed to, or it can even alter or consume existing memories.

Part I: Unknowns

The first few chapters of the book pretty closely stick to the original stories from its SCP origins, introducing the concepts a little at a time. They feature the characters that will be in (what I consider to be) the actual story later in the book.

This is the sort of stuff I live for. Half explained, leaving the imagination to run wild. When I was probably way too young to watch this sort of thing, I enjoyed the 1995 reboot of The Outer Limits. The show was similar in concept to Twilight Zone, but instead of a "monster of the week" it was proper Science Fiction Horror, with the outcome often left unresolved. It made you question your assumptions about the world, or how beneficial technology really is if it destroys our humanity. That discomfort is addictive, and it's probably the reason for ~~the nightmares~~ my love of Science Fiction, Horror, and where they overlap.

Part II: Escapee

Now that we're more comfortable with the type of mental gymnastics involved in these phenomena, the story begins to develop. We start to see how things tie together. The existential threat becomes global. We learn about unknowns that exist in the real world.

Humanity is losing a war that most of humanity is unaware of, and the ultimate weapon is to build a weapon against an enemy that we can't know about, because knowing what we're fighting is to lose the battle. But it turns out the work has already been done, but without us knowing. It's just a matter of triggering the weapon and in the process wiping all knowledge of the war, and the weapon, and even the Division itself.

It's very Lovecraftian. The classic unreliable narrator, doubting whether the world has changed around them, or whether their memory has changed. This tugs at the feeling we all fear, that our own memory is the unreliable narrator.

Part III: Five Five Five Five Five

This is what I consider the true "story" of the book. Everything this point was setup and world building. We see through the eyes of Adam Quin, the husband from earlier who was forced to forget his entire marriage. The entire reason he was with Marie in the first place, was his subtle resistance to mimetic manipulation. It's possible that others have the same ability to see the world being destroyed around them, but Adam is in the unique position to have experienced the inner workings of the Division. Even without being able to consciously remember U-4987, "Sunshine" finds Adam and guides him through discovering the events that transpired to get him here. In a Dagon-esque otherworldly exploration over an unknown amount of time, he figures out what needs to be done.

Not going to lie, these last few pages felt metaphorical in their explanation of events and I don't quite follow what happened to defeat U-3125. It's almost like it was rationalised to death? There's no big explosions, no boss fight. Just a complex dream sequence and the world returns to normal.

What Did I Just Read?

The book leaves us how it started, feeling unresolved. Though the great threat is gone, other entities persist that defy our perceptions. Around us all the time.

It's thought provoking, and leaves a creepy feeling that makes me doubt the world around me. Similar to the effect I felt after watching The Matrix for the first time, the fact that it could be true and there's no way of knowing, is the horror.

Gears 5

2026-06-25T00:00:00Z

Part six of playing through the Gears of War series in co-op.

Oh we're in the era of live service games now, are we? 7 years after release and I'm still getting pop-ups for daily login multiplayer boosts I don't want and cosmetic DLC packs that do nothing. Can I just play the game please?

The Story

JD, Del and Kait from Gears 4 are back, with a friend. I don't know how I feel about Fahz. He's a real suck-up. The "golden boy" that does everything the First Minister says, but condescending towards his squad mates to the point that nobody wants to work with him. He comes in clutch once or twice and shows his attitude is really a weak self-esteem. Is this character development? Not sure.

Kait is the one that holds the story together. Turns out that amulet her mom gave her at the end of Gears 4, is a big deal. Reyna is the daughter of Queen Myrrah. So Kait is Myrrah's granddaughter, and through the amulet she's having visions. We have to go sever the connection between Kait and the Hivemind. Why don't we just destroy the amulet? I don't know. This whole adventure does provide a lot of background lore for Queen Myrrah and how she came to be, with medical reports and pictures. It's pretty cool from a world building perspective.

As usual, completing the mission that we set out for at the beginning of the game (skiffing in the ice), leads to more things that need doing (skiffing in the sand), until we have a final big fight (the Kraken) to finish the game. Nothing different from previous games, but well executed and keeps you engaged. The story is always moving and there are almost no interruptions to the flow. It just pulls you along.

New Gameplay Systems

Why do I have to play the boot camp? I've played 4 other Gears games over the last 3 months. I think I've got most of it. The only real difference is the chainsaw bayonet has moved to its own button and functions more like a weapon secondary effect. For instance, the little missiles from the Lancer GL is the same button.

What is more interesting, is JACK's new abilities. He's an active member of the party and can be controlled by a player, offering support actions. He carries ammo around, stuns enemies and can be sent to solve puzzles. Once his abilities begin to upgrade, he becomes an invaluable part of the squad. We've been two players through the entire series, so JACK is an NPC. We can have different abilities ready to go, but when one is used the cooldown applies for both so we need to coordinate. Not a problem after 5 previous games.

There's a little bit, and I do mean the smallest bit, of stealth gameplay. Sneak (mostly walk) up to certain enemies from behind and disable them with a quick button press, ripping batteries out of Deebees or slicing the throat of unsuspecting Drones. The mechanism from Gears 4 of pulling an enemy over the wall and executing them is actually useful now. A few situations during the game are clearly set up (and prompted in dialogue) to be stealth sequences. They're super simple and easy to figure the optimal path. The only time it doesn't work is when the button prompt fails and you accidentally greet a Drove with a little blade tap instead of murdering them. Then we go back to shooting anything that moves, business as usual.

The new DBNO ("down but not out") system takes getting used to. Where previously the timer would simply run out and you could spam A to move around a little better, now the timer moves quickly unless A is actively being spammed. Once revived, if you go down again the timer continues where it stopped. Reasons I don't like this...

When going down, it takes a moment to be angry at the world before I remember to spam the button.
My poor controller.
If we fail the mission and I'm still spamming the button, the menu pops up and I restart before there's a chance to respond. If I was trying to move when this happens, I sometimes select the wrong menu item. More than once we accidentally quit the session because of this.

Better Combat

Combat feels frantic and fast paced. The first few big fights are in wide open spaces, each person doing their own thing, but supporting each other with revives or calling out focus points. Enemies are no longer bullet sponges and actually react when hit, meaning you can stop them in their tracks or knock them out of cover. Ammo is still a constant limitation and using dropped weapons is still often needed, which also fits the vibe. I do get Overkill, Longshot and Boomshot ammo from COG drops, which I don't think happened before?

The Claw is a terrible weapon; It's wildly inaccurate even when "zoomed in", the firing rate changes all the time and it takes half a decade to reload. No thanks.

The whole frantic combat thing is amplified by enemies that quickly change position, often jumping straight over your head. Especially in tight, closed areas this can be disorienting if you end up in the wrong spot, so it helps to take a moment and assess the situation before running in guns blazing. Overall a much better playing experience.

Can we talk about difficulty spikes though? Gears 4 had the Swarmak fight that made us take a break and come back when less frustrated. In Gears 5 there's a Matriarch fight that kept us busy for more than an hour. In both cases this appears to be about the halfway mark of the game. Coincidence?

Minor Glitches

A couple times the game glitched out on us. Mostly it seems the game had a hard time recovering from checkpoints if they happened in the wrong spot.

In a particular instance we died, retried, and just fell through an endless white void. Quitting and reloading did the same. Helpfully the game offers an option to retry from the previous checkpoint, which was in the middle of the first Kraken fight in the desert and the next part of combat simply didn't trigger. We stood there staring at the Kraken trying to break through the doors, but nothing happening. Eventually we reloaded the chapter and played the whole chase sequence to finish the chapter.

In a later chapter we had to protect the truck while it was being unstuck. After defeating the Carrier nothing happened. Reloaded, tried again. Same thing. Coincidentally we used JACK's Pulse and found a Swarm Leech stuck under the terrain with no way to get to it. We had to replay the entire chapter to fix it.

Speaking of the next section not activating, there were a couple situations where we completed an objective and the next one didn't come up. So we walk in circles, wondering what we're supposed to do, only to find out if we'd walked in a random direction it would tell us through dialogue and the objective would pop up. But there was no indication and it honestly felt like backtracking. For a game where you spend almost all your time following a pointer with a star on it, it's jarring when the game decides to not give that objective indicator immediately. That feels like a design flaw.

My troubles with the game are pretty minor and I guess it comes with the territory of such a big complex game. Sometimes objects clip through terrain, sometimes a save doesn't reset the gamestate perfectly, as long as it can be fixed with minimal replaying, it's fine. It happens.

The Skiff

Honestly this was probably my favourite part of the game. It's sort of open world, but very confined with only a few places of interest, so it's very obvious when you find something. Then there's a little adventure during which we learn about our characters through dialogue and fun little set pieces can be staged. Drones standing on thin ice that we can shoot, helps us understand we can do the same with the Matriarch later in the game. At the end of the little side quest, we get a reward. Complete all the locations for a side quest and JACK received a very powerful ability. Honestly, I could play an entire game that's only this.

It was a little sad when we had to finish the snow skiff levels and proceed with bombing the ice, which was a fun moment overall. I was also very happy to discover the next act is also riding the skiff but this time in the desert! The open world layout for this part was more confusing, playing with levels, but it made sense for the type of terrain.

Hivebusters

In terms of story this feels lighter. The opening cutscene has a few jokes. We're still stereotyping characters and getting away with it because the places they originate from are fictional. Other than that, it's entertaining. There's comical banter between the characters even during fights, and the occasional heartfelt conversation (and backstory) while walking from point A to point B.

Level design is mostly linear, though sometimes the next place to go isn't immediately obvious. It's real pretty. Lots of overgrown tropical vistas. The lava tunnel section is a long sequence of sliding, steering to avoid obstacles that don't do any meaningful damage. Occasionally the layout looks like you can go left or right, only to be forced to one direction in a physics-defying manner. But it's more of an interactive cutscene than a gameplay level.

In terms of story, it's pretty average. As soon as we discover Hoffman is in charge, I was sceptical. I've never liked him. Turns out I was right to question his authority, as this entire operation is rogue. But the characters decide to persist "for the greater good and personal honour" as they always do.

Mechanically I'm not so fond of this one. Because there's no JACK, each character has an ultimate ability. Mac has a shield, Lahni has extra melee damage, Keegan has ammo. They're all sort of a little useful but not really worthy of the name "ultimate". It seems there's one upgrade for each ability per chapter, that each do a specific thing. If you miss it you can't get it. The changes are not groundbreaking the way JACK's upgrades were, and the story is so short that there isn't a point to getting to know the abilities better. Mostly it's just free ammo from Keegan when there's not enough lying around.

Overall fun to play, not groundbreaking, looks pretty and adds a little more lore to the expanded universe.

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective

2026-06-23T00:00:00Z

My version of the game is the older Ystari print. Currently the game is printed by Space Cowboys under the name "The Thames Murders & other cases" because there's a series now, but the contents is the same. It's a pretty heavy box for its size. Inside is a thin rulebook, an address directory, a map of London, a stack of newspapers and ten case books.

It's not strictly speaking a campaign game, and there's very little overarching story between the different cases, but it is best to play them in order with the same players. There's a newspaper for each case, but for each case all newspapers dated earlier might be relevant.

The Basics

Each case begins with an introduction. Mostly it explains what the case is about, and why Sherlock is too busy to attend to it himself, instead sending the B team. That's you.

Gameplay is an elaborate "choose your own adventure" system. If we want to speak to Bob, we look up Bob's address in the directory (something like 39 SE) and then find that entry in the case book and read it aloud. Make a note of every location you visit, because you can calculate a score at the end.

The next couple hours is a bunch of brainstorming to decide where to go next, reading that entry, then trying to parse new information. Sometimes the new clues is the lack of information, and requires going through notes and finding alternative lines of inquiry. This is the fun part of the game.

At the back of the case book is a list of questions. The first three are the main objectives; Who's the culprit, why did they do it, and usually something specific to the case. Below this is a second set of questions that are optional, but if you did your job correctly they're fairly simple to answer. Then the conclusion is read and score is calculated. Main objectives are worth 20 point, secondary objectives 10 each. Then points are deducted for each location visited.

Here's My Problem

In my opinion the scoring system is counter-intuitive. I understand it's a board game and board games apparently need scores. But it's a mystery game. Once you've read the answer, it's not like you can go back and try again. Lend the game to a friend and they play through it with their group, then compare scores to see who solved it better. That's not really the point. It seems a pointless exercise.

Having a score system that penalises for locations visited, changes how the game is played. When playing for the best score, you would read the questions and visit the fewest locations possible. This means jumping to conclusions or following wild leads and then guessing the answer with less information than we're comfortable with, or accepting vague answers as correct like a bad daytime game show. The authors spent so much time writing the backstories and extra details, even adding picture clues sometimes. Should the point not be to enjoy the story?

The cases are well designed, but the clues are written from the perspective of someone who already knows the answers. Does that make sense? After the conclusion, the case book offers the optimal path to high score. Reading through this often ends with "how the hell were we supposed to know that?" In their defence, if they spell everything out it would be too easy, and it's impossible to balance the difficulty of a game that relies so heavily on interpretation. It's not a sudoku with a quantifiable difficulty, it's a series of word puzzles.

How we choose to play, is to ignore the scoring system entirely. We don't even look at the questions because sometimes their wording can be a spoiler. We just go from place to place, gathering clues, enjoying the atmosphere and working it out. If it means we visit every location in the case book so be it, but we follow every lead. When we feel happy with our conclusion or have run out of options, we go to the questions. If we answer the primary objectives, we call it a win. For my group this is the best way to play, but you do you.

If you're interested in trying it, there's a short demo on their website to print out and try.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

2026-06-18T00:00:00Z

Book three in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Starting a new DCC book feels like an episode of a sitcom, waiting for our favourite actor to make their appearance so we can cheer for them. There's Carl! Yay Donut! Mongo! Katia! Mordecai is a toad!

Besides the opening fight scene, because there has to be an opening fight scene, we spend a bit of time setting up the private spaceto help with training. It feels we're overleveling the characters a lot, but the dungeon is getting difficult and it seems players are expected to bend rules and find loopholes to survive.

During chapter 4 I wasn't fond of how much information was being shared with Hekla and her group. Katia keeps hedging her bets, not comitting to anything long term with our group, but not outright wanting to go back to Hekla It feels like we're setting up for a betrayal...

Turns out I was right to be suspicious. The inevitable betrayal by Hekla was expected but the method was surprising, using Katia to get Carl upset so he would lash out. Not sure what the endgame was going to be there. As usual Donut acted on instinct and made everything worse. The next chapter was short but powerful. Katia's stood up for herself for the first time, a major character development. Also her pummeling Hekla was the most surprising moment of the entire series so far.

Most of the latter book focused on systems and character development, it's LitRPG I get it, but for the latter half of the book it was a lot. Major sections of explanations, complex routing of mobs through different stations, Carl reading entire sections of the Anarchist's Cookbook which are basically 3rd hand explanations of other systems... It's a lot. Some of it was obviously setting up leads for future plots, others I'm not sure. For instance the PvP coupons could've been a much bigger plot element in future books. For a little while it created doubt and tension between characters, only to have it be explained away. Maybe it's still be foreshadowing?

The big final fight with Grull and the station mimic wasn't satisfying. I know these books are all about breaking the system and finding loopholes, but the potion Mordecai gave Carl feels like a Deus ex Machina solution. The rest of the fight feels more like how it should go. Elle brings reinforcements, Katia plays decoy, Carl uses the summoning rules of Grull against him, and then chucking half of a mantaur into the abyss through a portal.

Overall not my favourite in the series, mostly because we focused a bit too much on dry explanations that only seem useful within this floor and won't be relevant again. It's nice to understand the lore a bit, around the factions fighting and using the floor design to send a message, and that technological developments around these events (and how Krakarens are involved) is causing political issues around these events.

Also "Babababoon" is fun to say.

Tea Witches

2026-06-09T00:00:00Z

I have to be honest, before taking the plunge on this one it seemed daunting. Even after watching it be played felt like a lot to remember. But the amazing art by Sandara Tang (also Flamecraft and Critter Kitchen) and many tea puns and witchy puns, I went for it.

It turns out the rules aren't that complicated. The rulebook is well designed with many examples, though sometimes the nuance of a rule is hidden within an example. If the rules were stated more explicitly and nuances clarified, it would be a quicker learning experience. Luckily it's easy to crowd source clarifications through Reddit or Board Game Geek.

Gimmicks and Puns

First thing you notice is the plastic fountain. The centre of the board is a lazy Susan with the six different teas. During the game this thing turns, moving tea flavours next to different spots. The fountain is probably not necessary and takes up a significant portion of a large box. I don't like big board elements like this unless they serve a purpose. The bowls are necessary, but the fountain didn't need to be there. Considering the game has an upgrade kit, I would've preferred the fountain in there, the box smaller, and the game more affordable.

Around the central fountain are six BOOtiques, each with three Pup Stops for your TeaPups. That's literally a sentence I had to say out loud. So many puns. For most of teh BOOtiques there are additional cards or a special board that go around the outside of the board. These locations include Witchy celebrities at Celebri-Tea Crush, a Were-House managed by a Werewolf named Howl, and Hex Support where you can buy upgrades. Special teas are single-use cards, but really didn't need to be called Special-Teas (ugh). Teas can have toppings; These are Eye Cubes, Sweet Teeth, and Boba Bugs. During the game, serving Basic ~~Bitches~~ Witches earns money or Loyal-Tea.

Oh did I mention, the whole event is the Teaquinox Faire, featuring events such as Broomstock and Witchella.

Art and More Puns

The art style is not just cute for the sake of cute, there's an internal logic. Within your deck of cards are six covens that each have a distinctive style and fashion sense. Each of the four player boards is represented by the coven of that particular colour, which extends to their TeaPup movers. Each of the BOOtiques has a mood that makes them easy to identify, with fun characters in the artwork. The special teas are depicted in ornate teapots styled to show the ability of the card. It all feels alive, like it's moving.

An often overlooked details I appreciate, is the denominations of coins are different shapes. Quickly counting or grabbing the right one is effortless. If we're designing pretend coins, there's no reason to stick to real-world practical limitations. Marginally larger circles is not good enough.

I appreciate the little Starbucks reference on the Loyal-Tea Reward token...

Actual Gameplay

First part, start of the day. Little bonus and a new to-go order for each player.

Then the Summoning, a little personal mini-game everyone plays at the same time. Flip a card, do what it says, choose whether to press your luck or stop flipping. Most of these flipped cards are the customers you'll be serving this round, inaddition to the loyal customers from the previous round.

Now we play the actual game, Service. In turn order each player places a TeaPup, takes the Pup Stop actions, does what the BOOtique location says, and then serves as many customers as possible. Then we all look at our to-go orders to see if they match the board. Next player. This continues until all TeaPups are placed.

End of day. The most important thing that happens here, is all unserved witches are discarded. Those loyal customers from before, if you didn't serve them they leave. TeaPups come home with their teas, board updates a bit, and we go again.

Once you have this flow down in your head, the gameplay is actually quite smooth. I'm not sure why it looks so complex, but once I realised it's actually this simple, the Teach became much quicker and new players understand faster.

The Mechanics That Make It Fun

Unserved customers leave, and you only score the customers you've served in the last round. Each progressive round there are more customers to serve, but you're building a system of gaining and storing more resources to facilitate this. At the halfway mark you also get a third TeaPup to help. This means the game starts with only a couple options, but by the end of the game you're placing a TeaPup and triggering a chain of a dozen actions that results in several customers being served. It's very satisfying but never feels overwhelming, because each element of that engine is added one step at a time.

Customers care about which teas I have access to. To-go orders care about teas a particular BOOtique has access to, regardless of who owns them. That dichotomy is very interesting, especially because serving a to-go order often gives loyalty to other players.

During a particular turn, the BOOtique is usually the driving factor. "What do I want to do? This one." and then take the best Pup Stop there. As the game becomes familiar, the position of the Fountain becomes a factor. Occasionally the best choice involves an unwanted BOOtique to position the wheel and score multiple to-go orders.

Better Bits

There's an upgrade kit for the game. It includes wooden tokens for toppings, acrylic beads for the tea, and...

Actually that's it. $25 plus shipping to make the bits nicer. Personally I like that the base game is consistently cardboard, instead of a study in mixed media. The wooden toppings are nicely printed, but the acrylic tea beads don't have the distinctive tea leaves on them and could me more difficult to identify for persons with colour blindness.

What I would've done, is put the big plastic fountain in the Upgrade kit. The game box could flatter, reducing distribution costs without sacrificing too much shelf presence, in turn reducing price. $60 isn't a bad price for this game, but lower price is always better.

I'm also a little annoyed that the rulebook advertises the upgrade kit. Is that necessary? There's a publisher leaflet in the box. Could a little leaflet for the upgrade kit not make the rulebook cleaner and more professional? Do even our board game rulebooks need mid-roll ads now?

Overall

A decade ago, there were two distinct camps of board games. Games with cute art were light on mechanics, easy to teach and fairly short. If you wanted a more in-depth experience, the theme was often sci-fi or dark fantasy with very few exceptions. That's why I'm happy there's a movement towards games with a bit of meat, what's considered "medium weight" with a whimsical theme. Tea Witches is "thinky" enough that it feels rewarding, but light enough with cosy art that it feels fresh (tea joke?). The rules could've been explained a little better to help first time players, but once the rules are learned it's easy to teach.

The art is flawless, except for some repetition. It's not as noticable in the player cards as there's usually only one of any colour card visible, but the Celibri-Tea and Special-Tea cards often deal two cards with the same art. A bit more variety in these would've been nice but it's a very minor gripe.

The game can be a bit of a table hog. The hexagonal board maked it difficult for players to put their player boards next to it near the edge of the table. Most of the BOOtiques have an extra board or a set of cards dealt next to them, expanding the footprint further. Your player board needs to be quite a way from the edge of the table because cards are played below it and to the right of it. Even a standard 6 seater dining table has a bit of difficulty fitting all four players.

Overall definitely worth the play if the whimsical theme is something you're comfortable with.

Gears of War 4

2026-06-07T00:00:00Z

Part five of playing through the Gears of War series in co-op.

The first thing that struck me, is that we're back to how things used to be before Judgment. The controls are the same as Gears 3 (though I'll miss the grenade button) and the environments flow to each other along with the story. As it should be. I appreciate that the second player can pick which character they want to control. It doesn't change anything towards gameplay, but it allows my counterpart to identify with the character more.

The opening serves as a recap of the previous games, but from a different perspective than the games. It makes things feel bigger than our little group of soldiers running through the chaos, and reminds us that the actions from the previous games had an effect much larger than what was obvious.

When we are introduced to our main characters, I thought we might spend the game fighting as rag-tag rebels having to scrap our way through. This is definitely how it starts. After a bit of playing it becomes obvious that JD isn't any rebel, he's a Phoenix. More accurately, his dad is Marcus Phoenix. As cagey and sarcastic as the characters are about "asking him" the whole time, by the time we actually go meet Old Man Marcus it's pretty obvious that it's him.

As always there are new guns and new factions. The "Deebee" robots are a little easier to defeat than the now-evolved Locust. They have a few new weapons like the Enforcer and the EMBAR but they'r nothing special. The Overrkill is a personal favourite though; Basically an automatic shotgun. It's incredibly powerful but only if you're super up close, and has very limited ammo.

Oh I mentioned the Locust are more evolved? The Swarm. They're crystally now. But mainly what's bigger and better seems to be their health. They are absolute bullet spunges! In previous Gears games, part of the tactic was to just clip a guy so he breaks cover and you can mow him down. In this game you empty a magazine at a Drone and they don't even move. Besides being frustrating, it turns the game into a hunt for ammo. To help with the ammo shortage, you can now switch weapons with NPCs, no questions asked! And most of the time they have more ammo than you. If you accidentally equip something in place of your beloved Lancer, just take Marcus's custom lancer that does more damage and holds more ammo.

Tower defence sections are pretty common, with their new construction thing. Build defences, place them around, survive a wave. Do it a few times and you win. Basically a little game of Orcs Must Die in the middle of a Gears game. It's a nice change of pace, but doesn't add much to the gameplay. Maybe these features are more useful in multiplayer or Horde mode?

Another pointless on-rails segment. This time it's going up an elevator shaft by hanging onto the cable. It adds nothing to the game and is easy to beat first try.

Of course there's a new "ride the cool thing" segment. The mechs were actually fun though. First we get to see Old Man Cole, who still looks exactly the same just slightly grey, and then Old Man Baird who is bald now. Turns out the "Deebees" we've been fighting are his. DB. Damon Baird. His company designed them. So anyway, big blue Transformer-style mechs with an oversized staple gun on its arm, followed by a Raven that shoots missiles at whatever you point at. Power fantasy accomplished. This is pretty much the final playable part of the game before the story abruptly ends, so we went out on a good note.

The scene where Kait encounters he mother feels similar to Dom finding Maria in Gears of War 3. Considering that the build to this moment wasn't as explicit as the build to Maria's reveal, it didn't feel as impactful. It does give the character a bit more depth.

A good entry in the series. The writing style feels more natural, even if there's not as much character development. After a big gap since the previous instalment, it feels like the focus was to redeem rather than innovate. The few major changes are welcome additions.

And Then There Were None

2026-06-03T00:00:00Z

While reading the book I discovered many adaptations of the work over the decades. The one that took my fancy was this British limited series. For my comments on the actual story, please read the previous article. This will be about the series itself and how it differs from the book.

Cast

Let's start with the actors I recognised from the poster, and immediately knew which character they played:

Charles Dance, Tywin Lannister obviously, but also Leopold Frankenstein, is a good choice for Justice Wargrave, though in my mind the character was heavy set and prone to anger. I might be wrong.
Sam Neill, Dr Grant in Jurassic Park, as General MacArthur. I didn't form enough of an opinion about MacArthur to judge this casting. The emotional scene on the beach was clearly not the actor's strong suit, but considering the general spent his life hiding his emotions it sort of works.
Toby Stephens, Captain Flint in Black Sails, as Dr Armstrong is absolutely perfect. Probably my favourite of the series.
Noah Taylor, Mr Buckets in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as Mr Rodgers is pretty spot on. He nails the balance of timid while serving, but controlling over his wife.
Burn Gorman, who I know as Murtry in The Expanse, as Blore. Eh. Could've really been anyone.

The others were not as obvious who they were, but made sense once introduced. Marston was the prick I expected hom to be, in the series even more so than the book. Emily Brent made me socially enraged several times at her brazen classism, if there weren't servants the nearest person she considered "below her" would do. Lombard didn't really make sense for the role but is probably fine.

Changes to Backstory

A few things from the book were different in the series. Some of them make sense, as a book usually doesn't directly translate to screen. Others changes were made for dramatic effect and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

The biggest change is some of the backstories, seemingly changed to have a more emotional reaction, or to be morally more "wrong". What upset me the most was Blore. In the book he provided false testimony and the fall guy died in prison. In the series he beat someone to death, seemingly because he's gay. I didn't like the character before, but I like him even less if he's homophobic.

Emily Brent from the book felt justified in her decision to kick out the "pregnant girl" under her charge, and showed no remorse even after Beatrice drowned herself. In the series it's heavily implied that Brent had feelings for Beatrice, and when she fell pregnant she popped the little idyllic bubblethey had created. Brent's decision to kick her out was not motivated by simple religious self-rightousness, but by anger and feelings of betrayal. This gives the character a little more depth, and makes the stone faced woman feel more human. This change I actually like.

Armstrong from the books had left a group of tribespeople to die, mostly for racist reasons. This would've been fine. In the series he actively killed and plundered for diamonds.

MacArthur from the book sent his wife's lover on a mission that ensured he would not return. In the series he outright shot him in the back of the head, and then presumably used his rank and the chaos of the war to hide the crime. This doesn't make a difference either way.

And lastly Miss Claythorne, who's backstory functions as a motif through the three episodes of the series and remains unchanged from the book. What is different, is how it is portrayed. In the book it seemed that Vera suggested Cyril try swim out to the rock, waited a little bit, and then tried to save him. In my mind she may even have regretted her actions and tried to save him before it was too late. In the series she makes no attempt to save him, enjoying the silence of the moment while my mind screams to save him. This didn't sit well with me, and casts the character in a completely different light. Where in the book I didn't understand her sudden urge to hang herself. For the series it could be her naive dreams were shattered when confronted with the truth of her actions, seeing how others react, and over time eat away at her conscience, shooting Lombard being the final straw. But it feels like it's not explained well enough on screen. More on this later.

Changes to Flow

Minor things, really. They don't alter the story as much as I feel the backstories do, but they made me go "oh this is different" a few times.

It's difficult to show guilt or an emotional struggle on screen. For Miss Claythorne, this is shown with frequent hallucinations. It actually gives the show a bit of a Horror ambiance. Most notably, a hand emerges from the bathroom basin and grips her by the throat. In the book, she walked into her room to see seaweed hanging from the ceiling and triggered a weird flashback or emotional break. To be honest, the series version makes more sense. Were women really considered to be so weak-willed in the 1930's?

Speaking of Miss Claythorne, I don't remember any sexual tension between her and Lombard in the book? There's also a whole party scene with brandy and cocaine that gives them a chance to bond and for the others to suspect them, which I don't remember at all from teh book. Was this for more romantic interest to make the story more interesting? It doesn't make a big difference, only confused looks when he leaves a different room and Wargrave mentioning it during the final scene. Again I feel it cheapens the character into a "final girl" trope that really wasn't necessary.

Book Blore got hit in the head with a bear sculpture mantle clock. I commented at the time that it seems unlikely the killer could plan for that. In the series he dies from a garden variety stabbing and covered with a bearskin rug. It seems more feasible under the circumstances, though I'm not sure how weak old Wargrave would get the body into the house on his own.

And then the piece de resistance. In the book Wargraves confesses his entire plan in a multi-page message in a bottle. That wouldn't be very fun on screen, listening to a voice-over as the big reveal. So in the series, he reveals himself to Miss Claythorne as she's hanging from the noose in a very dramatic final scene, the culmination of the series. For the series this is perfect and typical of the genre. A proper end to the series.

Wargrave's final death doesn't rely on a weird elastic contraption, instead ending in a surprisingly accurate throw across the room. Probably fine.a

Overall

Before the "Netflix Original Mini Series" was a thing, British limited series were the best for these sort of stories. Longer than a movie, shorter than a Series. Give time to explain the plot and slowly reveal all the clues, but doesn't have to set up for the inevitable "season two". This is a prime example of exactly that. However the constant pressure to "modernise" a story or make it more "dramatic" has added a couple scenes that make it difficult to recommend. There are a crime thriller lovers in my life that would enjoy this story, but would not appreciate certain things from the series. I guess in that case they can read the book...

And Then There Were None

2026-06-03T00:00:00Z

Small update: My edition of the book is from 1972. While researching the series I found the poem in the original book was racially problematic and over the decades adjusted to be more appropriate for modern audiences.

Ten people find themselves invited to a little island that's only accessible by boat. Each of them invited by a friend of a friend or someone they think they've met. The owner of the house, presumably UN Owen, is nowhere but dinner is served. After dinner, a booming voice accuses each of them in turn of directly or indirectly causing the death of one of more people.

The characters are all over the place, and I had a hard time following who's who, but a few stood out to me. Justice Wargrave the judge, took control of the investigation from the start. There's no Poirot or Marple here, so we have to do it ourselves. Miss Claythorne who's accused of letting a boy drown and is racked with guilt over it. Dr Armstrong, mostly because he's actually a doctor and helps with a lot of the early investigating. Although him being a doctor also makes him suspicious. Lombard has a strong personality and is quite opinionated on situations. He also brought an actual gun. Blore, the private investigator and the closest thing we have to a detective. Emily Brent mostly because she annoyed me.

OK, I'm interested. Let's see where this goes.

Everywhere in the mansion, the only building on the island, is displayed the poem of the Ten Little Soldiers. Then people start to die...

Shortly after dinner Marston "choked his little self". Honestly I didn't like him from the beginning, with the car and everything. He seemed the most guilty anyway. Mrs Rogers "overslept" which is a tragedy. She seemed too nice to really do harm and it appeared her involvement in their murder was mostly circumstantial, because she couldn't say no to her husband. MacArthur was already being eaten by penitence. He "said he'd stay" by way of getting hit over the head. By this point we've started seeing the rules of engagement here, especially because the figures on the dining table are counting down. MacArthur made himself as easy a target as possible.

Mr Rogers "chopped himself in halves" but not really. I guess he's the only servant on the island, I can't imagine any of the others would pick up a hatchet as long as he's there... Emily Brent, being stubborn as ever, refused being helped and refused to go with the others. She was left along "a bumblebee stung".

Now things get interesting. Wargrave dies in a judge's costume, "in Chancery" as it were. It's revealed later that this was faked with the help of Dr Armstrong pronouncing him dead. The argument is, that if Wargrave is "dead" he can hunt the killer... But if I were a killer on an island, I'm sure I would notice someone getting killed when it wasn't me killing them... At the time we didn't know Wargrave faked it, this is revealed later.

Armstrong is next because he knows about Wargrave. "A red herring swallowed" him when he was pushed off a cliff. Again, we don't know this now, we find his body in a bit. This one has levels. He died in the sea so swallowed by a fish, but also a red herring is a false clue. Blore saw Armstrong leave and then they couldn't find him, so they thought they'd figured him out. I'm not sure whether Wargrave planned for him to be seen leaving the house, but it worked in his favour.

At this point it could be Armstrong (who disappeared). But either Blore or Lombard could've taken him out while they were searching during the night. Then Blore gets a bear clock to the head. "A big bear hugged" him. Of all the rhymes this one feels the weakest to me. Did the killer really put that clock there so it could be a murder weapon? There's no way they could've planned it this perfectly. I guess once the murder weapon is established, there would be several ways to use the bear clock, one of which is a sneaky lob through an upstairs window...

After finding Armstrong's body, we now "know" that it has to be Lombard or Claythorne. Big confrontation, stolen gun, accidentally shot. Lombard "got frizzled up" which is probably the line I like the least. We've now moved from orchestrated killings to serendipitous happenstance. But it's fine, it's a theme, just go with it.

The happenstance becomes more obvious when the only thing Claythorne could do was hang herself. It's poetic (haha) but she spent several days fighting for her life. Why end it now? I wanted Vera to be the final girl. I guess things were different in the 1930's.

Then the Book Ends. Twice

The first ending is the police showing up. They go through the whole crime scene summarising them, which helps put the whole thing together. At this point we still don't know Wargrave was a hoax, so when the police find his body in his bed with a bullet hole in his forehead it makes sense. But things moved after Claythorne died so someone was here...

And then the final ending. Justice Wargrave's confession as a message in a bottle, explaining how he cleaned up the last few things and then rigged an elastic band to commit suicide with the gun.

Style Over Substance?

Going into the book, I expected the usual attention to detail of a Christie story, knowing there will be details deliberately left out and almost impossible to deduce on first read. About halfway through the story it became clear that the raison d'etre for the story was following the poem and exploring the location. Still a great story, and Agatha Christie's writing is strong as ever, but it wasn't a murder mystery meant to be solved, it was meant as an elaborate escape room. Still highly recommended. Though if you've read this far either you've already read it or it's too late.

Frankenstein

2026-05-28T00:00:00Z

This has been on my to-watch list since it landed on Netflix, but because it's a longer movie I hadn't made the time until now. I'm a big fan of Guillermo del Toro so it was important for me to be in the right mindset when I sat down to watch. I was not disappointed.

Sight and Sound

This is del Toro at his best. You can literally pause at any moment and it's a perfect picture. Lighting, composition, how people fill the frame, how the camera moves. It's all beautiful, even when grotesque. Every little details is deliberate, from wardrobe to set dressing.

Red seems to be a motif for Victor. From childhood there's a red scarf. Later when working with the cadavers the red gloves, which might be to hide blood but could also be a stylistic choice. Later he wears a red jacket, and whenever he has a visionary dream his bedding is red.

The music is fitting for this era, but also fitting of the Gothic tone of the movie. There's a melancholy creepiness throughout the movie. In parts it reminds me a bit of Edward Scissor Hands, but that might also be how the monster was portrayed...

Frankenstein's Monster

He's a big, tall, lean figure but his demeanour is vulnerable. Especially when we're just introduced. His childlike fascination with everything around him, only to be locked away in a basement never to see anything. Once he breaks out, through a traumatic experience, he gets to see the real world. When he shares berries with a deer, it's with kind, curious eyes he looks at the animal. And immediately he is again met with violence, but of a different form. He isn't violent or dangerous by nature, regardless of his strength. Our fear of "otherness" teaches him so.

Jacob Elordi is billed as "the Creature" and throughout the movie I think they call him the same. Or "it", I guess. But Elordi strikes a balance. He's clumsy, curious and kind. Then he's intimidating, brutal and unforgiving.

Baron Victor Frankenstein

Oscar Isaac is perfect for this. The obsessive way he talks about his work borders on mania. I don't remember the book particularly well, it's been decades since I read it, but I remember Victor being a spoiled brat. I quite like this more emo version of Victor. Having a troubled childhood gives his actions purpose. It also explains why his behaviour towards the Creature is so aggressive and uncaring. That's how his father taught him. It's all he knows. For all his knowledge of the human anatomy, he knows nothing of people.

Definite Rewatch Material

It feels like someone asked "If your favourite director could make any movie, what would it be?" The answer is "Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein" and that's exactly what we got. This is not my favourite movie, I don't believe in such a thing, but this is up there. I will definitely be watching this again, and if I find out someone hasn't seen it I will sit them down and watch it with them.

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

2026-05-25T00:00:00Z

Book two in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Now that most of the explanation of the game is done, we can focus on story. This floor of the dungeon feels like a fantasy world, like something a dungeon master would come up with. I guess that suits the theme. The Skyfowl are a pretty cool race, with their own political stuff going on, that gives the characters something to interact with besides just the "surviving and beating bosses" thing.

Oh but there's also the whole Undead Circus story with the clowns. Also baboons. From this whole story we learned two things. Firstly, the creators of the show can be bargained with. The showrunners don't want to lose their biggest draw, and as long as the potential solution is good "for the views" they'll let it happen. The other thing we learned, is that Signet's storyline will come back in a later book. I don't mind, the concept of using tattoo creatures like Pokémon is pretty cool.

It stands to reason as the dungeon becomes more difficult, the group has to take their tactics more seriously. In any video game you're not only leveling up your abilities, you're also practicing and getting better at actually playing the game. The fact that the group has callouts and prepared combos makes a big difference and allows for cinematic moments when it works.

Mongo

I don't know how I feel about Mongo, but I understand his purpose in the story. Donut being the loose cannon of the book was fine for the first book, but it would get old and predictable if it were to continue. Mongo is the new chaos generator. He also offers something for Donut to riff off, so Carl doesn't have to be the focus of her "crazy" all the time. He's also a completely different build, so it allows for new ways of solving problems. He does seem a little overpowered though...

The Voices

I didn't notice Carl's voice changing until it was mentioned to me and I went back to check. He seems less frantic and more collected. Now that the insane circumstances have settled into "this is my life now" and there's no immediate urgency, Carl has time to think about things and come up with a plan. He seems to be more mature than the intro of the first book had us believe, but because "everything was on fire" we didn't really have time to get to know him as a character until now. Donut also seems to speak softer with him now. They're definitely becoming more of a unit.

I have to give it to Jeff Hays (again). Mordecai is a different morphology but the moment he spoke I knew it was him, even with the different voice. Then on top of that, Jeff Hays plays the character with the "same but different" voice as drunk for a good bit. So in the narrator's head there's now a single voice with two "mods" on top of it, each influencing the voice in a particular way. This is crazy! Is there an award for best audiobook narrator? Because Jeff Hays wins