Astrea

Let the dice decide your fate in Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles

Yin and Yang.

Two opposing forces that are complementary of each other. They are independent and yet interconnected. They are adamantly against each other but desperately need each other to live.

This dualism in cosmology is shared in many aspects of life. Sith vs Rebels. God vs Satan. Light vs Dark. Good vs Evil. It’s a simple idea that can be applied to many things, but can also be a complex thing to master.

It’s this central theme at the heart of Astrea that makes it so fun.

Witch is When vs. Save the Cat! beat sheet

I thought, since I disliked the novel Witch Is When It All Began so much, that I would dive down deeper into it in order to see if I could figure out why. It’s easy to say you don’t like something, but it’s much harder to understand the reasons why. However, once you understand why I think you can strengthen your own storytelling because you know what to do and what to avoid. With this knowledge, let’s take a look at Witch Is When It All Began when it is run through the Save the Cat! beat sheet.

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

I was already familiar with Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! script writing method from YouTube so I knew how it generally worked and how many movies actually use this structure to tell their stories. I was applying those ideas to my story writing but wanted to have a better (more professional) translation of how these beats directly applied to novels, so I’m happy that Jessica Brody already did the work and did so in such a brilliant manner.

Witch Is When It All Began by Adele Abbott

On a positive note, this book was very light-hearted and easy to read. The general premise is wonderful and is what drew me in to the story. A PI who finds out she’s a witch! How can she use that to help her solve cases and probably get herself into trouble? I wanted to know!

A New Beginning review

The heart of this game is the story it is telling, but the entire time I was playing the game I was shooting holes through their plot like a semi-truck driving through an interstate tunnel. It turns out there’s a lot that doesn’t add up or completely falls apart in this time traveling thriller, but it’s supposed to be explained away during a twist in its final act. The biggest problem is this twist doesn’t do that – sure some plot holes are filled but then motivations and questions about what was truth and what was fiction are opened and you’re left scratching your head which is never a good conclusion to a video game you just spent hours slogging through.

The 11th Hour review

The 11th Hour tries to capitalize on the first game in the series – The 7th Guest – by wrapping what little gameplay it has in a slick FMV movie with a story that feels straight out of fanfiction.net by a writer trying to create some Twin Peaks/X-Files lovechild. It’s completed by some truly laughable acting by most of the cast and some very strange practical/visual effects. On an odd level I began to enjoy it because of the absurdity.

The 7th Guest review

I’ve heard a lot about the 7th Guest and after reading all it had accomplished when it was first published I knew I had to try it if only just to say I did. I bought it so long ago but had yet to play it… travesty! I knew that it was a strange game, to say the least, but I don’t think anything can really prepare you for the oddities that await you inside Stauf Manor!

The Mummy: Demastered Switch review

Do you remember back around 2015 when Universal Pictures was building hype for its interconnected “Dark Universe” which would include all the big bads of the time from Dracula to Frankenstein to the Wolfman and everyone in between all connected via the Prodigium, a secret society dedicated to hunting supernatural threats which, as we found out in 2017’s The Mummy, was run by Doctor Henry Jekyll (played by Russell Crowe). This game is a part of that?

Wallachia: Reign of Dracula Switch review

Inspired by older games such as Castlevania, Shinboi and Contra; Wallachia: Reign of Dracula attempts to pay homage to its predecessors in both substance and style while bringing classic coin-op gameplay to a unique setting and, for the most part, it accomplishes what it sets out to do, but it isn’t without its fair share of pitfalls.