This is the graphically improved Tomb Raider from 2013, adapted for next-gen consoles like the PS4 (on which I played the game). The only games I can compare this to are the Uncharted series. I know that Lara Croft was killing off enemies when Nathan Drake was still in diapers, but that's the order in which I…
This is a great puzzle game. The graphics are amazing on the PS4. The story is that you are an AI within a computer simulation. The puzzles are set in an open-world environment, pock-marked with occasional terminals for backstory. Those terminals allow you to interact with another personality within the game who asks you increasingly difficult philosophical…
For my part, I enjoyed the game. I played in Easy mode, and so had no problems in combat except for the dragons (and maybe a giant when I was too complacent). Like Gwyd, I overleveled a couple of zones, but went through them anyway because I'm a content glutton. I think I liked the characters better…
The web site on which I originally posted this review is being retired. Since I often refer to this game in my reviews, I decided to archive that review here. TL;DR: This game sucks rubber donkey lungs. Now I've definitely finished playing Batman: Arkham Knight! Here's the review I posted to Amazon: Batman: Arkham Knight left me…
Before we get into the fantasy, let’s deal with the reality: Sarah Avery’s book Tales From Rugosa Coven is an excellent description of what life is like in a Wiccan group. There’s the sense of family, the balancing of work and biological family and coven-mates, the bickering and the sharing, the interaction of Wiccans with other Neopagan…
As a grade-B horror comedy with well-known actors, maybe I should cut this film some slack. As someone who LARPed for 12 years, I can’t. The story of Knights of Badassdom may be new to the general public, but it’s overly familiar to any LARPer, RPG gamer, or SF fan: what if a group of role-players actually…
Once upon a time, a beautiful witch met a handsome wizard and they fell in love. Together they made great works of magic. They created unicorns and searched for mermaids. Many listened to their words: the seekers, the young, the wise, and the learned. And they lived… …perhaps not “happily ever after.” But they lived indeed! Once…
In the past few years, modern pagans have started to reclaim their history. As Ronald Hutton points out, pagans have always had a strong sense of “history” (an interest in past events), but not always in “historicity” (understanding what actually happened, as opposed to what you wish had happened).
Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon traces the factors that led to the founding of the modern Neopagan Witchcraft movement. Philip Heselton’s Witchfather focused on the life of one important individual: Gerald Gardner. In other words, Hutton told us about the times, Heselton told us about a life.
Michael Lloyd’s Bull of Heaven: The Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan does both. It does it a way that’s engaging to read. I’d never heard of Buczynski before Margot Adler recommended this book to me; now I understand his impact on the Craft.
I finished Bioshock:Infinite last night. My reaction, in brief: - This is most beautiful game I've ever seen. They managed to crank out more detail and depth out of an aging console than I could have possibly imagined. - The game is violent, especially during melee. I cringed, but accepted it; I'd heard the story was worth…
Quick review: I just came back from seeing STID. Without spoiling: Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor. He has the range to portray villains: nasty villains, noble villains, tragic villains. He could be Sherlock Holmes, the Doctor, Moriarity, the Master, or Richard III. But he's not the villain for this film. That, plus plot holes you could…