The Consuming Shadow

Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Crenshaw

Video Game

As this is a roguelite I am putting this down here because I got a successful-ish run – a non-explict you failed ending – despite not being probably anywhere near the end of my time playing it. A cosmic horror roguelite where you have to stop the world from being invaded by the ancient ones and their minions. This thing rules in a way that honestly just about no horror game I’ve played has. For starters, being cosmic/lovecraftian type horror it has the obligatory sanity meter but it goes much further than anything I’ve seen save maybe eternal darkness, but the gameplay ones not the fake black screen, but from what I’ve seen this definitely does it better. Simple things like text corrupting, false options, screen distortion, and hallucinations round out the more standard manifestions but there are more that caught me off guard and I’ve never seen anything like them. Great stuff.

The main gameplay alternates between driving around “mainland” UK, dealing with random events along the way, and delving into dungeons to learn more about the existential threat you have to solve. The dungeon gameplay is pretty simple – could be uncharitably called bland – but has you fighting monsters while exploring procedurally generated mazes, with some wrickles thrown in with sanity and other mechanics. There is more to it but I’ll let you discover it on your own.

Oh yeah the art. It isn’t particularly good, but the siholuette styling allows for you to fill in the gaps in a way that fits with the lovecraftian setting, low resolution creating more of those gaps. Text for random events and town descriptions is a bit bare, but given how fantastically everything else works together it isn’t really an issue.

One of the most pleasant gaming surprises I’ve had in a long time, super glad that my mate Mr. Jakob gifted it to me.

The Nazis, Capitalism, and the Working Class

Donny Gluckstein

Non-fiction

I find non-fiction hard to read, and this was no exception, but that being said this was an excellent read. Unpacks common misconceptions about the rise of Nazism and shows how those misconceptions sow the seeds for contemporary and future fascist movements to take hold. This book is a warning that I hope we bear witness to.

Invisible Kingdom (DNF)

Written by G. Willow Wilson, Drawn by Christian Ward]

Comic Mini-Series

Some of the most incredible art I have seen, seriously groundbreaking stuff, paired with honestly trite commentary on consumerism and an extended focus on spirtuality that finally drove me away. Consumerism isn’t bad just because it disconnects us from what “really matters”, it’s bad due its ties to imperialist/colonialist neo-liberal capitalism. I would love to hear that it goes on to make a nuanced point beyond this basic one but I wasn’t sold before and that wouldn’t win me over. I’m also very skeptical of any story that attempts to center spirituality as I really don’t care and I hate that I have to go along with everyone in the world claiming it’s required to live properly. There are some exceptions of narratives that have presented interesting views on it, “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler and “The Road” by Cormack McCarthy come to mind, but those are exceptions. But remember, the art is fucking incredible here.

Saloum

Directed by Jean Luc Herbulot, Written by Jean Luc Herbulot and Pamela Diop

Film

An odd mix of horror and more conventional military/insurgency type of film that honestly works in the later portion. The camera work is kinetic and several striking visual motifs are interspersed, but primarily before the horror kicks in. I am going to be looking forward to what this director does next because he clearly has talent, I just hope his next script is more focused on what worked really well. Like there’s a cut of this that is a killer short film.

That’s all for today because writing is hard.