TV Review: "The Last Kingdom" (2015-)

This week, I want to give a shout out to arguably the best historical adventure show presently on the air, "The Last Kingdom":

Based on Bernard Cornwell's "The Saxon Stories" series of historical novels, "The Last Kingdom" is a historical adventure television series that tells the tale of King Alfred the Great and the rise of England, as experienced by the protagonist Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a noble from Northumbria who became a Viking slave then son to his Viking owner then independent warrior.

Movie Review: "Masquerade" (2012)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to another overlooked Historical Drama gem film, "Masquerade":

Set during the reign of King Gwanghae, the fifteenth monarch of Korea's Joseon dynasty, "Masquerade" is a creative interpretation of the missing 15 days in the 승정원 일기 (Journal of the Royal Secretariat), based on the cryptic entry:

"One must not record that which [the king] wishes to hide."

Director Choo Chang-min spins the above quote into a fanciful tale wherein the King is poisoned and, fearing further assassination attempts, temporarily replaces himself with a physically identical acrobat and comedian, Ha-sun, for the 15 days while he recovers.

Essentially a retelling of the classic tale "The Prince and the Pauper," "Masquerade" is a fish out of water story where Ha-sun needs to quickly learn how to be a royal or all kinds of things could go wrong.  Additionally, King Gwanghae and his body double are quite different, the former being a tyrannical asshat whereas the latter is empathetic and kind hearted, so it doesn't take too long for people to start to figure out something is amiss.  Nevertheless, Ha-sun is able to make a mark on the court and even the King with his earnestness and compassion.

A lively historical film, "Masquerade" nicely balances drama and comedy without becoming overly sentimental, and includes some pointed shots at Chinese soft imperialism.  The production design, sets and costumes are first rate and Lee Byung-hun excels in the dual role of both King Gwanghae and Ha-sun, where he gets to show off his acting range beyond his typical gangster-type roles (e.g., "The Good, the Bad and the Weird").

So, if you are an East Asian history buff, lover of K-dramas or just want to watch a good costume drama, check out this film!

RPG Events: NEON Retrofuturism Festival 2018

Last week, I attended the inaugural NEON Retrofuturism Festival!

NEON is, in the organizers' own words, "a celebration of Retrofuturism from the late 20th century."  As a love letter to that period's technology and pop culture, this celebration featured synthwave artists, obsolete tech, hard video games, and tons of So Bad, It's Good movies from yesteryear!  For example, Ninja III: The Domination!

A notable part of this convention was a huge arcade consisting of original restored cabinet games, including Pac-Man, Tapper, Dig Dug and Spy Hunter, only this time they were all free to play, so no need to keep begging Mom for more quarters!

The fun also included a massive selection of 80s and 90s game consoles, including relatively obscure platforms like the Vectrex:

I was amused that I still remembered a bunch of the secret treasure locations for Castlevania!

And, I had the opportunity to run the rules set I'm working on, Sorcery & Steel, for a bunch of strangers!  Specifically, I ran Ravenloft of Cthulhu, a reimagining of the classic AD&D gothic horror module with a bunch of Lovecraftian twists (e.g., Strahd is an eldritch horror rather than a vampire).

I changed a number of things so that even someone who had played and DM'd I6 many times before said he could see where certain things came from but the end results were quite different.  For example, I emphasized Lovecraftian horror rather than gothic horror, so there were no romance elements and Strahd was much more inhuman and unsympathetic.

Much fun was had, and I was happy that the session went smoothly and the game's mechanics were easily understandable by newcomers.  As a bonus, I also found a number of places to further refine the rules set.

A reboot of TempleCon, NEON still has a way to go to fill the shoes of its predecessor.  However, this year was definitely a good start.  If you're a fan of the 80s or a fan of things that love the 80s (e.g., Stranger Things), you should check it out!

RPG Events: Roll20Con 2018

Like last year, I again attended this year's Roll20Con!

FYI, Roll20 is a website that hosts a bunch of tabletop role-playing games that are played online (a ka virtual tabletop).  Roll20 is notable because it provides a set of tools (e.g., online dice roller, text chat, dynamic character sheets, automated  shared maps with character and enemy tokens, triggered sound effects, etc.)

The Roll20 interface also includes integrated voice chat and video chat, but, frankly, their implementation is pretty pants, and in every game I've played on Roll20 (including Roll20Con 2017 and 2018), we used Discord instead for voice chat.

Compared to last year, Roll20Con 2018 was poorly managed (after an initial notification a few months ago, Roll20Con didn't follow up with potential GMs until a few weeks ago.  Consequently, there were far fewer games.  Nevertheless, I did manage to get into some interesting games, most notably "Forget Me Not".

"Forget Me Not" is a one-shot modern scenario for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition from the 'The Things We Leave Behind' anthology published by Stygian Press.  This book is labelled "mature content" and boy is that an understatement!

Without getting into any spoilers, let's just say that "Forget Me Not" is really dark, even by Call of Cthulhu standards.  It was interesting to play but it's also helpful to remember that, with scenarios like these, gameplay is more about the journey than the destination.

TV Review: "Adventure Call" (2010-2013)

This week, I want to give a shout out to a hi*LAR*ious recurring sketch on "Limmy's Show!", "Adventure Call":

"Limmy's Show!" was a surreal and bizarre Scottish comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Two Scotland, written and directed by Brian "Limmy" Limond.  In "Adventure Call," Limmy played Falconhoof, the host of a premium-rate call-in show, wherein callers attempted to work through a dungeon crawl similar to the all-time great text adventure game Zork, whilst being charged an exorbitant fee per minute.

The first thing that strikes most viewers is Falconhoof, who's dressed up like a Ren Faire reject.  He's quirky but plays it straight, and has to deal with all manner of strange and/or angry callers, which produces much of the humor.

Additional humor comes from the game itself, which is, like Zork, quite challenging, with players needing to say the right thing at the right time and featuring Permadeath!  Old School!

Here's my favorite sketch:

"Kill Jester."

Board Game Review: "7 Wonders" (2010)

This week, I want to give a shout out to one of the best board games of the past decade: "7 Wonders":

7 Wonders is a strategy, building and resource management card drafting game wherein players assume control of one of seven ancient cities, each representing one of Antipater of Sidon's original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum of Helicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

There are three decks of playing cards (called a "Age cards"), that are unsurprisingly only played in one particular Age of the game.  The Age cards represent different types of structures that the player can build to provide a resource and/or a mechanical benefit.  In addition, some structures are tiered to unlock further structures and/or mechanical benefits.

Furthermore, the each city has a different game board (called a "Wonder board") with different powers and resources that can affect a player's strategy.  Games are for 2-7 players and the player with the highest total of victory points at the end wins.

Winner of the prestigious 2011 Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel, as well as numerous other awards, 7 Wonders is well designed, fast paced (turns are resolved simultaneously and the game can be finished in less than an hour) and deceptively challenging: While the mechanics are simple (pick a card each turn),  the strategy and scoring are not.

At the beginning of each Age, each player receives a hand of 7 cards, dealt randomly, from the corresponding Age deck.  After picking a card, the players passes their remaining hand of cards to the player sitting to the left (or right depending on the Age) and receive the remaining hand of cards from the player sitting next to them.  This means players know what cards they are passing on and can influence the receiver's options in the next turn.  However, since players will be passing cards to the left twice and to the right once, they have more influence on the left neighbor than the right neighbor.

There multiple potential paths to winning, although some may be more efficient than others for a given civilization.  Players must decide which strategies and resources to focus on and which to ignore.  However, it's not always clear at the time what is the optimal choice or the what is value of a particular choice!

So, if you are looking for a fast, fun, challenging and replayable strategy board game (especially if you are a history buff), this may be the game for you! 

Video Game Review: "Darkest Dungeon" (2016)

I wanted to give a shout out to arguably the best recent CRPG, "Darkest Dungeon"!

Developed by Red Hook Studios (the moniker being a sign of their Lovecraft fandom!), Darkest Dungeon is a low fantasy dungeon crawling and team management CRPG.  In terms of background, in the finest Lovecraftian tradition, The Ancestor of the player spent too much time delving into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, hordes of monstrosities were subsequently unleashed and now it's up to the player to set things right.

Dungeon by brutal dungeon, you direct a legion of adventurers to clear your blighted estate, often at the cost of the latters' lives and/or sanity, until you face the eponymous Darkest Dungeon.

Like the grim and gritty setting, this is a grueling and challenging game, in large part because, in the best Old School tradition, Random Number Generation (RNG) has a huge impact on gameplay!  More than once, a string of bad die rolls will turn the situation upside down and you'll be screaming  in frustration at the screen.

In a big departure from the majority of dungeon crawlers, in this game, much like a soccer manager, you are more focused on developing an entire roster of adventurers to meet various goals and challenges, as opposed to leveling up a specific party.  If you miss the forest for the trees, it's easy to get too invested in a particular  adventurer or group of adventurers, spending way too much resources on them.

Mixing side scrolling movement (a la Castlevania (1986), Old School!) and turn-based combat, tension mounts palpably as you explore various procedurally generated dungeons and the hordes of opponents whittle away at the party's health and sanity, not unlike Call of Cthulhu!

There's little hand holding in this game, and one poor decision can cost you, so you need to constantly pay attention (who's attacked so far this round?) or the situation can quickly devolve into a TPK!  Moreover, this is another way that the game punishes you if you get too invested- if a dungeon delve is going poorly, sometimes it's better to cut bait and run than risk ruining or losing one or more characters to death or insanity.

In addition, between the classes, their skills and camping skills, quirks, dungeons, monsters, curios, etc., there's a *HUGE* amount of crunch to absorb, so don't feel like looking things up in the wiki is cheating!  In addition, FilthyRobot has put together an excellent and informative series of class guides, beginning with the Abomination:

Overall, Darkest Dungeon is an amazing Old School game!  It rewards planning, preparations and smart play, but sometimes stuff happens and you just have to bounce back.  The art style is apt and the artwork is moody and evocative, as is the voice acting, and the attention to detail is superb.

So, if you are looking for an intense, Old School dungeon crawler that demands your best and keeps you on your toes, you'll love (and, at times, love to hate) "Darkest Dungeon".

RPG Events: TotalCon 2018

Like last year, I again attended this year's TotalCon!

And again, for the most part, much fun was had, although there were a couple notable hiccups this time:

Firstly, there was an enormous line to receive my con documents, since a bunch of people showed up during lunchtime and there was only one person processing attendees (there are a second person at the door to the registration room who basically wasn't doing anything very productive and apparently wasn't able to also process attendees), so it took an inordinate amount of time and I nearly missed a game.

Secondly, I did unfortunately have a game during the con that featured my two biggest RPG pet peeves: 1) railroading, and 2) player v. player, better known as PvP (which led to a TPK)!  Some people may enjoy those, but not me.

Particularly, the PvP was in the form of a plant among the players who had his own agenda.  This, IMHO, is especially unfair in a convention setting because, even if one suspects something is going on, does one act?  What if you are wrong and you kill the PC?  Will that ruin the game for someone who paid attendance?

Another thing that was somewhat negative was that, during my Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea game, once again  I called out the "twist" that the hidden enemy were Snake Men.  But, at least the scenario wasn't a poorly done rip off of RE Howard's classic Conan yarn "Shadows in Zamboula"!


Nevertheless, overall, I thought TotalCon 2018 was quite a good time.


I did have the chance to play the Legend of the Five Rings RPG for the first time, which was interesting.

Legend of the Five Rings (usually abbreviated L5R) began as a card game.  The RPG uses a "roll and keep" dice pool mechanic (like Exalted, only d10s) where the player seeks to roll over a target number (unlike Exalted, in which the player counts successes).  There's an interesting "raise" mechanic, where the player can voluntarily increase the target number in exchange for greater success.

L5R is set in the fictional empire of Rokugan, which is a faux feudal Japan with a smattering of other influences.  The background is quite detailed and really adds a lot to the experience by providing deeper character immersion.


I also got a chance to get in a bunch of Old School play with my old AD&D DM, who linked the ends of the classic modules B4: The Lost City and X1: The Isle of Dread!

B4: The Lost City by Tom Moldvay is a dungeon crawl cum mini-setting.  Clearly inspired by RE Howard's classic Conan yarns "Xuthal of the Dusk" and "Red Nails," B4 also has a lost, stagnant, drug-addled and dying culture, and the PCs are able to play off/against various native factions.

X1: The Isle of Dread by David "Zeb" Cook and Tom Moldvay is among the most widely played of all Dungeons & Dragons modules, since it was included with the D&D Expert Set.  Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Lost World," "King Kong," and other elements, X1 is an excellent wilderness hex crawl.

Movie Review: 47 Ronin (2013)

This week, I wanted to take a look at a Flawed but Fun retelling of the epic true story of the forty-seven rōnin (四十七士 Shi-jū-shichi-shi, forty-seven samurai), "47 Ronin":

Based on the Akō incident (赤穂事件 Akō jiken), which is celebrated each year on December 14, "47 Ronin" is a fictionalized version of Akō incident that's further been reskinned as a Sword & Sorcery yarn.  This film follows the viewpoint of the fictional character Kai, a half-Japanese, half-English foundling who possesses certain preternatural abilities courtesy of being raised by the Tengu, which are Japanese spirits/demons.

Kai flees the Tengu and is found and raised by Lord Asano Naganori of the Akō Domain.  Although an outsider to the others of Lord Asano's household, Kai is treated kindly by the Lord and his daughter, Mika, with whom there's a predictable forbidden romance subplot.  Years later, Lord Asano is framed for the attempted murder of the rival Lord Kira (in real life Kira Yoshinaka was a high ranking government official rather than a rival lord) by witchcraft and is forced to commit seppuku (切腹, "cutting [the] Stomach/belly"), a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.

Consequently, Lord Asano's samurai become ronin (masterless warriors), which drives the rest of the film.  Despite being specifically forbidden to seek revenge against Kira, the 47 Ronin (including Kai) carve a bloody path through anyone who stands in their way to avenge their fallen lord.

Overall, this movie is a mixed bag.  "47 Ronin" is serviceable as a popcorn flick and is a decent a Sword & Sorcery film, but there's no gravitas to the movie as there probably should be for a story (the Akō incident) that has become synonymous with loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor in Japan.    The plot of "47 Ronin" is pretty much by numbers and Lord Kira is a 2D baddie (the film probably should have focused more on the witch, playing by Kikuchi Rinko, who at least did a fun job of chewing scenery).

By contrast, Keanu Reeves' acting as Kai is, as usual outside of a few roles, is pretty flat and doesn't do a good job of carrying the movie.  The production design is good and the action sequences are fun but not particularly memorable.  Some of the CGI looks bad.

I think that the accusations of "whitewashing," which likely affected the film's box office performance, are overblown in this particular case: while Kai is the main character of the film, his actions and abilities are explained in the Sword & Sorcery context and he doesn't particularly overshadow the other characters.

If anything, this movie should have more fully embraced and explored the supernatural and eldritch parts of Japanese myth and folklore, which would have made the film more distinctive.

Movie Review: "Ronal the Barbarian" (2011)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to an interesting recent animated comedic Swords & Sorcery flick, "Ronal the Barbarian":

In "Ronal the Barbarian," our titular character is from the Barbarian tribe (yes, in this film, "Barbarian" is an ethnic identifier rather than a class), except, unlike all the other Barbarians, Ronal is weak, cowardly... and clever.  However, being an outlier proves to be a benefit when the evil Lord Volcazar, comes to kidnap the Barbarian tribe for a sorcerous ritual and mistakes Ronal for an average person rather than a Barbarian.

After Volcazar's men murder his uncle and raze his village, it's up to Ronal to save the surviving Barbarians with his new sidekick, the... amorous... Alibert the Bard.  Next, there's a putting the band together segment as Ronal "recruits" the rest of his adventuring party, Zandra the Shieldmaiden (which again is an ethnic identifier) and Elric the Elf.

Then, the party has to find the Sword of Kron (the only weapon able to defeat Volcazar) before time runs out.  Things end up pretty much as you might expect on this "definitely not a quest," although some tropes are inverted for comic purposes.

First off, I want to say that, while "Ronal the Barbarian" is animated in the style of a children's film (e.g., style, character design, etc.), this is an adult film.  Not pornographic, but definitely not for children, with copious amounts of foul language, T&A and sexual innuendo.  For example:

Elric: "My senses say that Ronal is in great dan-" 

Alibert: "We're fucked."

If they make a TV broadcast version, there will certainly be a lot of edits and/or bleeping!

This film is clearly influenced by Conan the Barbarian (1982) and is a parody or an homage of many other fantasy works and tropes.  It is also purportedly influenced by Heavy Metal, but evidence is scant (other than the movie being set in the world of Metalonia) and it lacks the awesome rock soundtrack of Korgoth of Barbarian.

Overall, "Ronal the Barbarian" is a solid but not spectacular movie.  Assuming one is the appropriate audience, this is a fun film, with plenty of slapstick, juvenile and sexually-based humor.  The animation is okay but not great, and the story is reasonably entertaining (there's an interesting face-heel turn that's unfortunately telegraphed from a mile away).

So, if you want to see an earnestly made animated Swords & Sorcery yarn that's heavy on comedy and fan service, check out this film!  

Movie Review: Hercules (2014)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to an under appreciated film that's the best Sword & Sandal romp in recent years, "Hercules":

While it did reasonably well at the box office and it does have flaws, Hercules, in my humble opinion, still hasn't gotten quite the love I think it deserves.

I'm not trying to suggest that Hercules belongs in the same category as a Gladiator (2000) or a Conan the Barbarian (1982), but as a popcorn action flick, it is more than serviceable.  Based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars, our story finds Hercules (played by the Rock) after he has completed his twelve legendary labors: Banished from Athens, he sells his sword (well, club actually, which is pretty neat since that's an underrepresented heroic weapon) for coin.  Lord Cotys of Thrace offers Hercules his weight in gold and hijinks ensue.

As you might expect, director Brett Ratner is workmanlike, and the work behind the camera is competent but not particularly noteworthy.  Set and costume design are better, and I particularly like that the film's use of CGI is more limited and subtle than it might otherwise be.  The action is solid and worth the price of admission, as is the writing, which never has any eye rolling or groan worthy moments.

Even better is the cast: Of note is Ian McShane chewing scenery with relish, but I particularly liked Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), who apparently spent 6 months training for the movie and is absolutely jacked (selling the physicality of the titular role).  Additionally, Messr Johnson's acting has come light years from The Scorpion King, to the point where Hercules' pathos is reasonably believable.


[SPOILER SPACE]


[SPOILER SPACE]


[SPOILER SPACE]


[SPOILER SPACE]


[SPOILER SPACE]


I know that some people were disappointed by the "twist" that Hercules is a mere mortal (though, some of his onscreen feats belie that point) and his "legendary labors" were actually military missions undertaken by he and his team and then embellished by his PR guy.  However, that didn't bother me: conversely, I thought it was an interesting and refreshing take on the character.

Plus, the movie, at its core, is a classic D&D adventure: a group of adventurers meet in a tavern, face trials and tribulations, and eventually defeat the evil king.

So, if you're looking for a ripping Sword & Sandal yarn, you could do worse than this movie.  In fact, you need go no further than the other Hercules film released that summer.

RPG Events: TotalCon 2017

Last week, I attended this year's TotalCon!

Short for "Total Confusion," TotalCon is New England's largest game convention, with hundreds of scheduled events over four days, including role-playing games, live action role-playing, miniature games and board games.  After a long period in Mansfield, MA, this year's convention was held in Marlborough, MA, but it was still a great time!  Some of the highlights for me included:

• Playing B1 In Search of the Unknown!

B1 In Search of the Unknown is both the original teaching module and is one of the most widely played RPG adventures of all time, being included in a number of printings of both the Holmes and Moldvay Basic D&D Sets.  Written for introductory DMs and players, B1 is a traditional dungeon crawl filled with tricks and traps to spur the minds of beginners.  A number of the rooms are deliberately left blank by Mike Carr, the author, to encourage DMs to think about dungeon design.  Whether this DYI approach is a feature or bug depends on your point of view.

While I've owned B1 for years, this was my first opportunity to actually play the module.  As an  exploration of a dangerous and weird locale, B1 is fun and still a challenge even for veteran players on the lookout for trouble.  Also, while not a meat grinder per se, a few of the PCs still died in the name of loot!

Old School!

• Playing with Frank Mentzer!

I started with the Mentzer Basic D&D Set and so it was awesome for me to actually play in a game with Messr Mentzer himself as DM.  He was kind, warm and gracious but he did, however, put a quick end to the hero worship stuff ("Just call me Frank").

The Mentzer Basic D&D Set is even more clearly written and even easier to understand than the Holmes and Moldvay Basic D&D Sets, making it ideal for younger audiences, such as myself back in the day.  Consequently, the Mentzer Basic D&D Set is still one of the best introductions to role-playing.  In fact, there was a player at our game who'd never done any role-playing before and Frank was able to get her up to speed in a flash!

I told Frank I spent quite of bit of time in the intro adventure to his Basic Set trying to save poor Aleena the Cleric, to no avail.  He replied that it was a deliberate design decision to bring home the point that 1) adventuring is dangerous business and 2) that RPGs are fantasy (not real life).

The adventure itself was a hugely fun time, a riff on  L. Frank Baum's Oz stories (not just the Wizard of Oz, but the later tales as well).  Frank also filled the session with many great stories about the early games of gaming and of TSR!


So, if you ever find yourself in Massachusetts at the end of February and have the urge to game, you should make time to come to TotalCon!  After 31 years, they are still going strong.  This is a well organized and run convention, with friendly and helpful staff, and it's always a blast to attend.  Plus, it's relatively inexpensive, so you get a lot for your $$.

Subject to unforeseen circumstances, I'll be there again next year!

Movie Review: "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" (2010)

[NB- this post is a slightly revised version of one that I published earlier]

春節快樂！

As we are in the midst of the 15 days to celebrate Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival), I wanted to give some props to my favorite Chinese action mystery film, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame:

Set in Tang Dynasty China, at the beginning of the reign of Wu Zetian (武則天), the first and only Chinese empress to rule in her own name, the country is rife with plots and intrigue against the throne.  After a couple of officials spontaneously combust (the titular flame), the Empress releases her old foe, former imperial magistrate and rebel Di Renjie (狄仁傑, the titular character), from prison and orders him to get to the bottom of this baffling mystery.  This, of course, is easier said than done, not only because of the tangled schemes of the Empress and other political factions, but also because Di's own assistants, Officer Shangguan Jing'er and Officer Pei Donglai, have interests that are not entirely aligned with the good detective's.  The result is an excellent series of twists and turns where you're not sure who's playing whom.

Like Guy Ritchie's excellent Sherlock Holmes films, to which it is often favorably compared, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is a multi-genre reimagining of a classic character, who in turn is based on the actual Di Renjie, a celebrated Chinese official.

Directed by the acclaimed Tsui Hark and with a large (by Hong Kong standards) budget, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is a lavish historical thriller that works as both a detective movie and a martial arts flick.  The set and costume design are gorgeous, while the story is breezy fun with just the right amounts of suspense, spookiness and mysticism.  And with the legendary Sammo Hung as action director, you know the fight choreography will be top notch.

Leading a stellar cast, the great Andy Lau plays the titular detective with intelligence, wit, and aplomb.  Furthermore, to prepare for his role in the film, Lau studied criminal psychology, which adds to the verisimilitude as Detective Dee conducts his investigation.  In addition, giving the detective a strong cast of characters to play against elevates the work: Detective Dee's verbal jousts with the Empress, played by Carina Lau, Andy's wife, in her first film role in four years, are some of the best scenes in the movie.

All in all, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is an excellent film.  If you would like to watch a Chinese martial arts film or historical drama with unexpected depth and superb execution, you could do a lot worse than this gem.

Movie Review: "Dragon Blade" (2015)

This week, as we are in the midst of the 15 days of celebration for Chinese New Year, I wanted to take a look at the entertainingly bad Chinese historical adventure film "Dragon Blade" (2015):

In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control; even over his own will.

This is a work of historical fiction, with a strong emphasis on "fiction".

no killing rule

childish

surprisingly no bad

twists and turns in the plot

Jackie Chan plays the captain of the Han Chinese government's Silk Road Protection Squad (even though there was no such thing), John Cusack plays the Roman general of the "Black Eagle Corps" (even though Roman military units were not organized into corps), and Adrien Brody plays the son of Marcus Licinius Crassus, who murders his father to become Consul of Rome (even though that's not how Crassus died or though Consul was not a heretitary position).

there are also many, many, many other liberties taken 

it's a Chinese imagining of Ancient Rome, like the portrayals of Native Americans in old westerns.

one of China's most expensive films

cheesy hammy overacted

terrible editing

And so begins this ripping yarn that masterfully combines an epic dark fantasy narrative, ridiculously awesome action and philosophical musings!  An adaptation of the best-selling manga with the same name, "Berserk" follows a young mercenary named Guts as he (literally) carves his way through a low fantasy world reminiscent of late medieval/early renaissance Europe.  This unfortunate place is plagued with constant warfare and endures a level of everyday violence and brutality that makes Westeros seem like Disneyland!

Confusingly, this anime starts with an episode in the manga's Black Swordsman arc then quickly shifts back to the manga's Golden Age arc, where Guts is recruited by the brilliant and charismatic leader of the Band of the Hawk mercenary group, Griffith.  The viewer follows the Band of the Hawk's rise to glory among various blood-soaked battlefields, while Griffith plays a devious and equally deadly game of political machinations.

In addition to enough blood and violence to trigger a moral panic, Beserk features an amazing soundtrack that, fittingly, highlights or underscores the narrative.  Furthermore, the narrative is filled with excellent character beats, such that even minor characters get some surprising depth.  This more than makes up for animation quality that is average, at best, for the time.

In the Golden Age arc, Guts and the Band of the Hawk face danger, betrayal and demonic shenangians at every turn.  Fortunately, Guts possesses effectively unlimited willpower, a zero [expletives] given attitude, and arguably the coolest sword of all time!  This sucker is so huge it makes a daiklave from Exalted look like a kid's toy!

Really, the only major flaw to "Berserk" (1997) is that it ends on an epic cliffhanger... which was addressed by the new series "Berserk" (2016) currently airing in Japan, that picks up immediately afterward!

Music Review: "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You" (2011)

Happy Halloween!  In honor of All Hallows' Eve, I wanted to give a shout out to perhaps the creepiest music video I've even seen, "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You":

"Just do as we say"

This wonderfully hypnotic and melodic yet super creepy song is the brainchild of Gotye (a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognate of Gotye's given Dutch name "Wouter"), a Grammy winning Australian-Belgian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter.  Known for his creative and unusual compositions, Gotye taps into his dark side with this unsettlingly yet catchy song.

Adding tremendously to the sinister atmosphere of the video are the visuals which were animated and directed by Greg Sharp and Ivan Dixon at the animation studio Rubber House.  They remind me of weirdly experimental music videos from the 1980s, like "Self Control" (1984) by Laura Branigan.

In addition, the cult in "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You" therein are pretty much poster children for your typical evil cult.  Also, the bit where the true face of the cult is (literally) revealed sends chills down my spine.

In fact, this video should be watched for inspiration by Keepers before running a session of Call of Cthulhu!

Video Game Review: "Warhammer Quest" (2013)

I wanted to give some love for the "Warhammer Quest" port for iOS devices!

The port is based on the short-lived but well-loved "Warhammer Quest" board game, which is, in turn, basically the 2nd edition of the "HeroQuest" board game but set in the Warhammer Fantasy world and using dungeon tiles rather than a static board.

If you are a fan of the above board game, you'll like this port.  The mechanics are largely faithful to the original, so it's unsurprising that this iteration is a turn-based, top-down view CRPG.  This set up works really well for iOS, with the computer dutifully crunching numbers whilst you get to focus on tactics, movements, etc.

If you are a fan of dungeon crawls, you'll also like this port.  The dungeon tiles are beautifully rendered, with lots of interesting details:

The blood and gore effects are also effective, especially since they don't cross the line into cartoonish.

Gathering of loot and gear is also quite addictive and, as a nice touch, your characters' avatars update as you change their kit (e.g., if you switch to a different type of shield, the avatar's shield changes accordingly).

The dungeons do, however, become samey after a while, which is unsurprisingly since they recycle the dungeon tiles and the text blocks!  This is less of an issue for the iOS port, since you'll likely be playing in 15-20 minute increments, but is more of an issue for long plays.

There isn't a true instruction manual, just a journal that explains certain things as you go along, so this game involves a bit of trial-and-error, especially if you aren't familiar with the source material.  However, it is fun to figure out that, for example, wizards can be a pretty decent combatant since, in Warhammer, they, unlike in D&D, can use swords!

Your options are a bit limited with the base package for the iOS port: you get four characters (Marauder, Dwarf Ironbreaker, Wood Elf Waywatcher and Grey Wizard) and can adventure in one province (Stirland).  You can add more characters, provinces, special items, monsters, etc. but the price adds up quickly!

With the in-app purchases and the relative dearth of in-game treasure, it's easy to feel nickeled and dimed.  However, there is plenty of gameplay with the base package for the iOS price (I paid $2.99), though I hear that the return on investment isn't as good with the PC port because of how that port is bundled.

Like the source material, this "Warhammer Quest" CRPG is pretty much all about dungeon crawling, aside from some short trips into towns or the simplistic overland travel.  If you're looking to be fed an immersive storyline, you'll be disappointed but this type of organic, emergent storytelling that you create for yourself about your characters' adventures is, in fact, quite Old School.

In addition, it is possible to get a string of bad dice rolls that quickly cumulates in a TPK, but frankly, that's quite Old School, too!

So, if you are looking for a casual, Old School dungeon crawler that's easy and fun to play, you could do a lot worse than "Warhammer Quest".