Rudderless

So this is basically the story of a man Utter nonsense, absolutely riddled with clichés and plot holes, but I was rarely *bored*. Creature design was decent, I thought, and a couple of the set-pieces were competently handled. I will likely have forgotten everything about it by Monday, but there are definitely worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

I think Fable 3 *feels* shorter because the final act largely amounts to a succession of either/or choices, and it definitely feels like they had to scope that whole part back because they ran out of time (I'd love to do a Making Of on that game someday). The idea of being king is brilliant, but it doesn't quite come off. There are a few other moments in the game where it pulls back from doing something properly daring - there's that bit in the desert where it seems like you're going to have to trek for ages and ages and then it just goes 'nah, you're alright'. And some of its design choices are bold but misguided attempts to streamline RPG mechanics for a mainstream audience. I also think the more industrialised setting is less pleasant to spend time in, so you're maybe more likely to get through the story quicker. I know I spent longer in Fable II simply pottering about because that version of Albion was such a delightful place to just exist in.

Yeah, I still enjoyed it, I think I just had slightly higher hopes after the reviews pegged it as an improvement over 1994. You've probably seen Ziggy as Max in Stranger Things.

Fear Street 1978 was fine, though I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to after 1994, which felt the more effective pastiche of the two (albeit more lax in its attention to period detail). Outside one or two well-staged kills, this felt like a relatively tame version of classic '70s summer camp horrors, and Sadie Sink apart, I found the characters relatively unappealing. Still very watchable, though, and I'm interested enough in the overarching story that I'll probably watch the third chapter as soon as it's available.

The initial concept has been kicking around since 2007, but development started after Superbrothers released Sword & Sworcery, around a decade ago.

Yeah, they shifted focus when NMS was announced towards a more structured, story-led approach.

I'm not angry, just disappointed. If you just want to play a round of regular golf, it's *fine* if entirely uninspired. Only six courses, though, and they're pretty bland.

Outstanding.

Yeah, you've summed up the real beauty of it nicely - small-town murder mysteries are nothing new, but Easttown and its characters were so beautifully realised. Even when the plot erred towards the melodramatic, the place felt authentic and the performances were believable enough to ground it.

Well, for me that was a thoroughly satisfying series finale. I have a few very minor quibbles about the resolution to the mystery, but everything else was fantastic. Julianne Nicholson did some tremendous work in that final episode, and Jean Smart was just a delight throughout, but if Winslet doesn't win an Emmy I'll be amazed.

It looks hokey and hysterical, but that's a heck of a cast he's assembled. I like to think they wouldn't have signed on had the script been a total duffer. Could honestly go either way.

Come on, folks, you all know by now that 6 means 'secret classic'.

Read in a couple of places that it is time based, it's just a longer amount of time than you'd think.

Finished in just under 11 hours (though it felt like more - apparently it doesn't count cutscenes and the time you spend with the merchant). For me, it gets progressively less interesting after the midpoint. The back half still has a few good ideas, but it doesn't make the most of them. I loved the setting, even if the village layout sometimes felt a bit too convoluted for its own good (I never quite managed to commit it to memory like Resi 4's, though I didn't get as lost as I did in a certain area later on). House Dimitrescu and House Beneviento I thought were terrific: two different flavours of horror, equally well done. I really warmed to The Duke, too. As for Ethan Winters, one character sums him up best when he says, "You're stupid. You talk too much."

Congrats on 50 issues! Lovely cover to mark the milestone.