RAVE: Secret by Jonathan Hickman and Ryan Bodenheim.

 

    "Never Get Caught" - Secret

    At the beginning of this month, I have done my now patented review of all media I consume during 'X' month Rants and Raves. Spoiler if you have no seen read it or seen it but my tied number one piece of content for the month of September is 'Secret'. I say shared because it was tied with a Korean Drama me and my wife watched called 'Moving' which was just as amazing as 'Secret'.  'Moving' and 'Secret' also have earned a new distinction, something I have called the 'Golden' RAVE which means it is hands down my favorite content of the month so it'll differ itself from other highly rated content. 'Moving' however has got its flowers not just from me but from the massive amount of people who have watched it. It is critically acclaimed and publicly lauded as one of the best K-dramas of 2023 when it first aired and rightfully so, it is an amazing piece of media. However on the other hand I believe that 'Secret' does not get the accolades I feel it deserves so for that reason and others; I present to you, my RAVE for 'Secret' by Jonathan Hickman and Ryan Bodenheim.

    The Man with the Plan.

    After revitalizing the Fantastic Four; creating Secret Warriors with Brian Michael Bendis and his other slept on masterpiece S.H.I.E.L.D, Jonathan Hickman was called the new architect of the Marvel Universe by Marvel themselves. They put all their faith in him as they gave him full reign over Marvel's biggest property at the time, the Avengers. This was around the time the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was at the height of its powers so for him to be given the rein over the golden goose truly showed how much Marvel believed in him. A lot of the MCU biggest moments owes its very existence to Hickman and I often do that Leonardo DiCaprio meme when I spot his fingerprints in their films. Some of its biggest upcoming events still to come in the movies is again drawing a lot of influence from him, specifically Avengers: Secret Wars. So what I am trying to say is Hickman is a master of his craft and when he plans, he plans big. Over the last 10-12 years, when it comes to reading comics, I know if I pick up a Jonathan Hickman book, I am due for a good time. He is consistently the only writer I would go to a comic book store and pick up a floppy (aka a single issue of a comic) over what I normally buy because I can not wait for the trade. He is my favorite comic book writer of all time, easy. So I am saying all of this because I read anything he writes and for the longest time I had a book of his on deck but I never pulled the trigger. That book is called 'Secret'.

    I have purchased all of Hickman's creator owned/ independent work through the years after making him my favorite writer. When ether it be the hard sci-fi of 'The Red Wing', the thought provoking time travelling saga 'Pax Romana' or his magnus opus (at least so far to me) Western epic that is 'East of West'. I, however was missing two series, one was the 'The Dying and the Dead' and the other was 'Secret', ironically both drawn by Ryan Bodenheim. I have since corrected that and I now own both. Tragically 'The Dying and the Dead' was never finished and it looks like it never will be due to the passing of Ryan Bodenheim but 'Secret' was and what a story it weaves.

    Using all the hallmarks of a good Hickman story; 'Secret' combines witty dialogue, morally grey characters, a epic plot and a killer ending. It focuses on a private security firm stumbling onto the something much larger then them after the death of one of their own. As our main characters try to get the bottom of the titular secret and get some revenge a long the way it all explodes, literally. People die, uneasy alliances are exposed and betrayals most foul. I won't give away anymore because I honestly want anyone that reads this RAVE to read the book for themselves.

    Now here comes the crazy part. It is not super easy and I feel it is because 'Secret' has fallen in the cracks. The 'Secret' trade paperback which collects all seven issues is not available on Amazon. You can not even purchase the physical singular issues, everything concerning 'Secret' is only through digital means. As a collector/ fan of physical media especially for things I love, this was un-acceptable. Because of this I had to go outside of my normal haunts and I was only able to get my hands on it thanks to Ebay. This is not the first time Ebay has come in clutch for me and it probably won't be the last. Now I think about it, all my most recent purchase for this duo of Hickman and Bodenheim has been through Ebay. I purchased their previous collabo 'Red Mass for Mars' through them and their last collabo, the aforementioned 'Dying and the Dead' as well. Funny that. Because it slip through the cracks a lot of people do not know just how good this book is. I do not see any Youtube explained videos for it, or 'read this comic' videos and it is a shame and one of the reasons why this RAVE exists. The other reason is I want to draw attention Hickman's collaborator and the person who brought 'Secret' to life, Ryan Bodenheim.

This image is from 'The Dying and the Dead' Issue # 1

    Eyes Wide Open

    Ryan Bodenheim or as he like to be called Bode is a self taught artist from Oklahoma but he spent most of his time in Dayton, Ohio, which is wild to me because that is super close to where I live. Ryan peacefully passed away in Dec, 2021 and I must say the world has lost a prodigious talent in his departure. I found Ryan's art of course through Jonathan Hickman and their collaboration, 'The Dying and the Dead' and I was blown away by his talent. There is one splash page in 'TDD' that still to this day, takes my breath away and as I type this I think I might have it framed for my office. From that day onwards, my eyes were wide open. Sadly, 'TDD' was never completed and was plagued by delays so I never really got to experience it until last month when I finally bought all the available issues from... you guessed it, Ebay. My next experience with Bode's work was him and Hickman's first collaboration 'Red Mass for Mars.' Again I was blown away by how hyper detailed Bode's work was and whilst the story for 'Red Mass for Mars' is good, it is the art which truly made me like it. In 'Secret' I truly got the best of both worlds with both of them at their peaks. I mean look at the image above and say you are not in awe.

    Sadly, related to Bodenheim not getting his flowers while he was here, only 'Red Mass for Mars' is readily available for regular purchase easily (again not digital.) and there has never been a trade paper back for 'TDD'. I think this is criminals because instead of people seeing the praises of Ryan, we instead have hacks like Greg Land and AI artists clogging our internet feeds. Again, it is not much but here, I am using my platform and voice to elevate that Ryan Bodenheim might be the one of best artist you have never heard of and a gem for anyone who have discovered him. His beautifully detailed art, spot on reflections, complex storytelling techniques and way he was able to collaborate with frequently colorist Michael Garland is a sight to be seen. Speaking of.

    A Family Affair

    Using a style they started in 'Red Mass for Mars'; Michael Garland's coloring brings another dimension to Bode's art. All three projects collaborations of Hickman/ Bodenheim/ Garland use a distinctive coloring which is unlike anything I have ever seen and it is in full display in 'Secret'. This might take some getting used to at first but once you see it is part of the process; you'll grow to like it. This is use to perfection in 'Secret' and 'TDD' and I can not sing praises for 'Secret' without acknowledging the importance of its colorist.

    The color red is used perfectly and sticks out like blood on a monochrome figure, men's ties and a spook's glasses. It actually inspired my new profile picture on the side of this blog. The irony is not loss on me that in a world of blurred lines with no black or white hats, a world filled with spies and secret societies, a more subdued palette is used and to great effect. Also amazingly, Michael Garland is not known for coloring comics but as an author and illustrator of children's novels... like what?!

Is this was the cover I might have bought it day one.

    "I've always been the boss."

    Earlier in this RAVE, I discussed why 'Secret' was one of the last Hickman independent projects I have picked up. I mentioned how it is not mentioned in a lot of conversations of what Hickman has done. He has done three different books with the word 'Secret' in it, he has also written 'Secret Wars' and 'Secret Warrirors' with both getting much more attention then this, his independent project. I mentioned how hard it was to purchase through regular means and having to resort to Ebay of all things (which I have come to discover is amazing at getting my hands on niche things I enjoy) but I will not lie to you. One of the major reasons why I didn't pick up 'Secret' originally was because of the cover they picked for the first issue and the trade paperback. Yes, the very same image that started this RAVE. I'll admit it, I judged a book by its cover. Sure, the cover makes sense and in the same first issue it plays big into the story but I just could never escape how strange it was. All of Hickman's covers are strikingly unique with amazing use of negative space so for this cover to just be what it was, I didn't buy it. By sheer luck, I stumbled on 'Secret' during a library visit and borrowed it and as soon as I finished reading it I was like... I need this in my life and bought it. HECK, I am going to buy a second copy because my original copy is kind of in a bad shape (you get what you pay for I guess) so I'm going back to Ebay to purchase another copy and I am giving the beat-up one to my bestie because honestly, people need to know about Hickman, Bodenheim and Garland and if it falls on me to spread the message, consider me contagious.

    Beyond a shadow of a doubt; it is no longer a 'Secret' (to me at least) and it gets a massive RAVE.

AV

P.S Now I have completed my Hickman independents collections, I'll be making a LIST ranking my favorites to my not favorites because I do not have any least favorites when it comes to Hickman. It'll be out later this month.

The Road to Cloudale: Closer and Closer.

 The Road to Cloudale in an ongoing blog as I speak about my experience writing and hopefully going through all the steps to releasing my first full length novel.

Mockup cover for Cloudale Book 1 (Not Final Cover Art)

    On June 14th, I put out a blog called Look How Far We Have Come. At that time I have been planning and started writing a book I have frequently called my 'dream' book. It was a book series I always wanted to write and for many years I placed it on the backburner and said I would write it one day. Well I was tired of saying, one day, one day so I decided to start writing it.

    Along the way I found a rhythm and a flow state that when I wrote it almost became second nature. I address how I reached this flow state in the follow up blog Consistency and Tracking is Key.

    Now as we draw closer to the final chapters of my first rough draft I think about what a journey it was to get here. I need you reader, to understand, how long it took to go from concept to the place we are now. As I am preparing to write an exciting conclusion to the first book in which I hope to be a 3 book saga of love, loss and learning to live, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I am so excited to share this with everyone.

    I always dreamt of being a writer you see, growing up people would ask me what I wanted to be and I talked about the things that interested me. Journalism excited me for awhile, being an anthropologist seem like a something I could be good at and what I hold my degree in. Heck, at one stage in my life I wanted to live the simple life and either run or help run a book store or be a librarian. All of these dream careers spoke to me at various stages of my life. There was, however, one thing that they all had in common, all of them had some connection to writing, putting words to paper or to word processor as we now do. As time went on I realized that my biggest passion, where my heart truly lay was in the world of writing. It is funny talking about it now because we are more than 3/4 into this year but one of my resolutions for 2025 was to stop procrastinating and to write my novel and now, here we are.

    Now I know this is just the beginning, writing the first draft is one thing but I still need to edit it, I still need to get it out to my beta readers, I need to figure out the legalities to publish it and I need to market it and get it out there but here is the thing. I already did the hardest part. I took something that was previously a mish mash of ideas and transformed it into a story that I am proud to call my own. Characters that I have had full-on conversations with and have live rent-free in my head for years. Soon I'll be able to unlock the door and let people into this world I created, filled with brave, believable protagonists, conflicted antagonists and everything in-between. Soon Cloudale will go from a dream to a reality and I can not wait to show you it.

AV

The Road to Cloudale: Consistency and Tracking is Key

     Welcome to my ongoing series "The Road to Cloudale". I am currently writing my first major novel, the first part in a trilogy called 'Cloudale'. In my previous blog about it, I discussed what has lead up to this moment and how this has been an idea that has been gestating in my mind for the longest and it just feels good to finally write it out. Well it has now been a full month (to the day) since that first blog and I am now at 10,000 words.

    Personally, at 10,000 words it feels like a achievement all in its own. I previously thought this story would remain unwritten and that I would keep wondering what could be but now the dream is fast becoming a reality. So now I want to share what may have been the biggest key to getting here. Consistency.

    For the last couple years now I have realized that consistency and tracking is my secret weapon to getting things done. In only the last few years, I went from only reading graphic novels to reading full sized novels again and it is because of consistency and tracking. I exercise on the regular, nothing wild but enough to get my blood pumping, every day now, no days off. I drink a full glass of water (sometimes even more), something I used to barely do back in the day and every day without fail I study the Bible. All of these things I have now consistently done for almost three years. I started tracking it on simple post-its and eventually upgraded to a calendar which I ticked off the days to my current and final form, a goal tracker app on my phone.

Each of the dots represents a day, 7 dots per week, shaped in a 'H' standing for Health

    This tracking gives me the accountability I need to keep going and when ether I go through a day and I get closer to the end of the night and I have not done all of my goals, it drives me to complete it. It is my checklist and whenever I complete it I always feel a sense of accomplishment for the day. So how does this tie back into novel? Well it is simple, I am now taking the slow but steady approach to my writing as well. Once upon a time I used to write until I ran out of gas but I realized if I kept writing that way it would lead to burn out. I know some novelists can approach writing novels like that but I realized that was no longer what worked for me. Taking my consistency and tracking mentality into my writing I started telling myself to just work on my novel every day and have something to show for it and that was sufficient and so far it has been working pretty well. When I do write; I write at least a chapter and these days I find myself writing Tuesday to Friday. I use Saturday to Monday to plan and again I need something to show for it so I work on my outline, do some research and revise chapters, something I might even write a blog about it lol. I also keep myself accountable by reading the chapter I wrote out-loud to my wife who gives me feedback and who is fully invested as well. This planning and consistent writing has been paying dividends and I can honestly say I would not have got to 10,000 words without it.

    Another key factor that is helping me is consistency in my daily routines as well. Back in the day I used to sleep until 11 am, wake up and just go about my day and most of the times only accomplish a little. These days since I have attuned my focus to writing, the mornings when I write are much more routine. I normally get up at 8 am or earlier, I complete my daily chores and cleaning (or as I call it up keep) of my house. I have lunch around 11 am to noon and after fueling up from lunch, I start writing and do not stop until I finish a chapter and read it out-loud to myself to check for any errors. Most of the times I am done by 3-4 pm so I take a nap before my wife gets home from work and than we eat dinner and have family time. During this family time I read to her the chapter I wrote for the day as well and get her feedback which I always appreciate. On average I normally go to sleep around 2 am and the cycle begins again when I wake up. There are little breaks in this cycle of course. Saturdays I might be working with the youth for my job and helping out where needed, Sundays are for church and my routine is flexible enough that if anything comes up during the week I can adapt to it.

    I feel putting this down is my accountability for today and even if this blog does not get plenty of views I do not mind because it is more for me than anyone else. I just wanted to talk about has helped me. My next blog in this series might go more into depth on Cloudale but we shall see. I leave with some music I have been listening to which has also helped me focus, the name of the song is 'Untitled' by TripleS Hatchi or Infinity. The words "Begins from now our story" really resonates with me lately.

AV

Week 3 of Darkest Dungeon II: Deja Coup

     Welcome to Week 3 of Dungeon Diving; our ongoing exploration of Darkest Dungeon II. This blog is written chronologically and basic summarizes my thoughts and experiences as I play Darkest Dungeon II. Now I know this is going up on Thursday but I have come to realize my Wednesday are actually pretty busy mainly due to Bible Study which I attend every Wednesday. However Bible Study is taking a break as of this Wednesday so I might have more time now however that might be up in the air as well. More about that in the WHAT'S NEW section at the end. On that note, let's Dive.

Wednesday

- Started off a new week with a pretty good runs however they both feel apart near the end against Leviathan and then hitting a Oblivion Ingress into the Collector.

- Collector is such a rough fight without an back-end damage dealers (Future Phil: This will become a re-occurring theme of this week)

- Re-reading my previous blog I realized that I had Occultist as my Number 4 position and that makes so much more sense.

- Daemon Pull is so in-disposable.

- Since the deck is always stacked against you I have taken to quitting and restarting when I use Inn items that are supposed to get rid of quirks and they do not do it. Like 67% and I can't get rid of Anemic. C'mon game.

- At first I was annoyed they re-purposed the Cannon boss from Darkest Dungeon as a random encounter boss. However I realize it thankfully is nowhere near as tough as it was in DD and most of the time you get a cool item when you beat it that strengthens your stage wagon.

- Whilst he is a cool character, Leper really sucks if he gets moved out of position 1 or 2. He already has the built in weakness of being blind 80% of the time and he has no way to big damage to the back-end. If he could at least move forward 2 spaces (something he was able to do in DD) it would be so much better if he is pushed out of position 1 or 2.

Thursday

- I think it might be time to make a change, team Power Creep (the MVP team of my last blog) just is struggling a lot. Either that or I might change the time positions.

- New team has a built in name, Deja Coup (hence the name of this blog). Also it is nice to bring back the ol' Jestal team aka Jester/ Vestal. Deja Coup is made up of Vestal/Jester/Duelist/Man-at-Arms

- This team is built to deal with stress it appears, they did not struggle at all with it and I think it is mainly due to Jester.

- Team was doing good until we made the mistake of taking on the Shambler and MaA died. 3 on 4 for area's final node was too hard. Pretty much made a rule if I lose a character I will just abandon the run.

- Beginning to notice a annoying trend, the final area always have tons of road hazards and most of the time I find myself getting ambushed at the worst time.

- Resentment boss seems much more do-able now. Lost Jester but we able to beat it.

- I must admit when Deja Coup work, they work well. It really is a testament that all characters work so well together, well with the exception of Leper.

- Denial is much more beat-able with any team as long as we stock some debuffing items for the back-end. Also note to stock a lot of holy water to get rid of all the debuffs it puts on me.

- The Profane Scroll wants you to run a front row Vestal... haha... no.

Friday

- Understand speed and being able to move before the enemy is super important especially when it comes to using items.

- Getting ambushed by the Antiquarian and being able to smack her around the globe was a good feeling. Like call an ambulance but not for me!

We used to be friends... a long time ago.

- Realizing Duelist potential is really nice especially her dying so much on me in the early days using her.

- After a nearly flawless run Deja Coup falls apart against Resentment due to... you guess, lack of back-row damage. I must have got lucky in a previous run because it felt inflating it's front 'lung' which was much easier to hit but  this time it was mainly the harder to reach back one.

- Really need to think out my routes better, sure pleasing the squad is good and all but running a Stress Relieving team means I can get rid of small ticks of stress much easier. Saying this because following their 'requests' keeps leading me down hazard roads and Cannon ambushes yay *sarcasm*.

- Starting to notice a weird trend, everything I try a new team they do well for a couple runs but subsequent runs things fall apart a lot faster. Weird that.

- Vestal is a key component of Deja Coup, not only is she the healer of the team she is also our main consistent back-row damage dealer. A lot of folks say she was nerfed and she is no longer brain damage hit heal every turn character now she is much more nuance and about setting up consecrations.

- Going back to a previous post, I am required to kill the boss of this area and characters are telling me to go a separate patch. Trolling I tell you.

- After a good run with so many close calls we lose Duelist simply because we forgot to equip MaA with his 'Bellow' ability to hit the back row of the Sleeping General lair boss. SMH.

- I must say, previous DD was fixated on killing you with Stress and Heart Attacks, DD II is more everyone does a million Damage Over Time (DOT) effects every attack. Going to try running a Resistant (RES) stage wagon build to counter it.

- I feel the run after losing to DOT is a apology run aka a run where the game just throw good items at you. I already have 4 pieces of Road Gear for my anti-DOT station wagon.

- Realizing that Combat Items are basically free attacks and not just healing is changing my game approach a lot.

- Apology run is going well. Time to stock up on my own DOT items for the final boss.

- Wow. Despite having a amazing run up till the boss, we barely win with only MaA surviving. Going to change his name to MVP.

- I did not re-equip Duelist's Coup De Grace for her back-row damage so it was on me.

Saturday

-  Also worthwhile  noting that my anti-DOT team still had good/ great relationships at the end.

- I do enjoy a good Daemon Pull as mentioned above. Clearing bodies whilst getting the enemy in front of the front line damage dealers with Combo status? Chef Kiss.

- After a particularly bad run that ended with a Warlock ambush I think I am done for today. Going to play some anime fighters instead.

Sunday

- I am a private person so I will not go too much into it but today was a really sad day for me. Definitely a break night.

Monday

- The Grand Slam achievement requires you to beat all the confessional bosses without losing anyone. It really is one of the hardest things to pull off for sure.

- Nothing beats turning around tons of negative affinities to positives one.

- Still trying to get the Grand Slam, I have been quitting as soon as I lost a character. I really do not like replacing characters at the Inn because they always come in with no affinities and seem to have bad traits off the bat.

- Was hesitating pulling the trigger on completing the Altar of Hope but now I see you can use excess candles to either try to either pull good items before a run (rarely happens) or re-roll quirks. Pretty good because some quirks are game breaking aka Head Injury (50% chance of being Dazed) or the Yips (15% of being Blinded).

- New squad is 'Pulling Flames' with Occ/Due/Run/Lep with Duelist using the Instructice class. Trying something different with her.

Tuesday

- Had the most insane run, arrived at Act 1 boss and instantly got hammered by DOT and more and everyone was on Death's Door by Round 3. However we also inflicted tons of DOT on the boss and somehow we still won and not just won, everyone survived! A insane moment which I wished I recorded.

- After this epic win, I proceed into the game without equipping my winning team with memories. Realizing I missed up I quit before reaching the Inn and I lost everyone. After this hard earned win I messed up big time. I am such a dummy.

- 'Monarch' class Leper is supposed to do big damage against Cosmic foes and they appear a lot in the game so I thought this was a great idea, however his regular damage blows and he still has all Leper's normal flaws. Unless they buff this class in the next update, I do not think I will ever use it again.

- Pulling Flames is losing points for me. Struggle bus and all the seats are filled. Giving it one more try before moving on.

- Yeah this team lacks a lot. Occultist tries to heal Leper and instead bleeds him and he dies. I need a more consistent healer? Maybe Plague Doctor? Besides I do not need Daemon Pull if Plague Doctor can clear bodies and Runaway can put Combo tokens for Leper.

- Yep. P.D was the missing link. Being able to heal multiple DOTs is invaluable as well.

- Stress seems to be this teams biggest weakness. Anti-stress stage wagon?

- Team was doing great until we reached the boss. DOTs do not harm the back lungs so the Seething Sigh boss just keeps wiping us out. I need to re-think my teams to include someone like Highway Man, Crusader or Grave Robber who can actually hit the back row.

WHAT'S NEXT

    Another week, another blog. However as I mentioned in my Sunday entry, my family has had a pretty bad tragedy and I might be taking some time off from writing this blog. I might come back next week but do not be surprised if we do not have a blog next week because I will be pretty busy with family obligations. 

    I am still playing Darkest Dungeon II tho so I will eventually return to this. Till next time.

AV

Week 2 of Darkest Dungeon II: Power Creep

     Welcome to Week 2 of Darkest Dungeon II or as we are going to call it, 'Dungeon Diving'. This will be an ongoing blog discussing our experience with the game. It is presented chronologically and normally updated every Wednesday. Now I said normally because Wednesday has come and gone and yes, I do know today is Friday lol.

    It was a pretty busy week so I am only now getting around to writing this blog. This will discuss my experience with the game up until the Wednesday. We are now deep in the game so this will be much more extensive than the previous one. With the house keeping out of the way. Let's Dive.

Wednesday

- Was pretty busy today ( which might be a re-occurring theme lol in hindsight) but I was able to squeeze in some late night gaming.

- Decided to try out Duelist, the new character introduced in Darkest Dungeon II specially the DLC update 'The Binding Blade'. She reminds me of Shield Breaker in design with how she moves back and forward.

- I do have slight beef that beating the game with a character allows you to add 'memories' which are persistent character buffs and also the traits the characters picked up in their previous run but you do not keep any of the relics/ items you obtained. I know it is probably balanced so you need to start over but obtaining a really cool item and having to start over again to get it again is a pain.

- Turns out Plague Doctor/ Grave Robber/ Duelist/ Highway Man has some sauce. They steam rolled the Denial boss with no issues, funny enough I was actually going to retire earlier in the same run because they were all not fans of each other and relationships are important in DD II.

- Rage Quitted on the Foetor boss, 'Harvest Child'. I was stuck in a loop where everyone was constant eating and tanking all my character relations.

- Ambushed by the Antiquarian. Funny how they made her into a mini-boss in this one after being the best way to farm for resources in the original. Thankfully she is not that hard and once you kill her bodyguards she became red paste.

Thursday

- Had a pretty awful run where I had to fight the lair boss and I was sent down a path with multiple road hazards. Ended up getting ambushed and than the fire breathing minions keep pelting me and watched as every member succumbed to it.

- Need a break after that B.S

- The B.S ramped up for the subsequent run too specifically on the final node before the Inn. First my Duelist gets one shotted when One Shot Protection aka Death's Door should exist. Then it was just my Man of Arms and he kept missing not only his attack which would have healed him but also would have killed the Cosmic Evangelist. I just wanted to get to the Inn and I would have cashed out but nope.

- This team of Vestal/ Crusader/ Duelist/ Man of Arms is fun but sometimes it is a struggle.

- Duelist being made of paper is the real issue here, even with health buffs and trinkets she gets sneezed on and she is at half health.

Friday

- Team 'Locked On' aka Occultist/ Crusader/ Highway Man/ Man at Arms is cooking now. Defeated the Denial without an issue.

- Break Night. I occasionally like to take a night off from gaming as anyone who followed my 'Learning AF' know. Just rested tonight and did not play much at all.

Saturday

- Saturdays are a mixed bag for me. Either a lot happens or nothing happens at all. This was a nothing happened at all one.

Sunday

- I skipped my normal Sunday afternoon nap to get wrecked by the second confessional boss 'Resentment'. It was a decent run until we lost my Occultist and had to replace him with a 'rookie' Plague Doctor. Occultist really was the engine and without him it was a struggle.

Monday

- Getting frustrated now, started a new run and my first encounter was the now infamous Warlord mini-boss. My team was super weak with no good equipment and we got destroyed.

- I think it is because we are constantly trying to clear the second confessional boss because the game is much harder now. Having a lot more bad runs compared to good ones.

- Thinking part of the frustration is me trying to use Locked On no matter what. Think I might do some experimenting with some other teams/ combos.

- Occultist/ Crusade/ Duelist/ Leaper is not working. Crusader wants to use Holy Lance from rank 3 but when he does that combined with Duelist moving forward as well Leaper ends up in Rank 3 with nothing to do. Wasting a move on just getting into position without buffing or hurting the opposing team is not a good strat.

- Thinking of re-visting this team with Man at Arms instead. MaA can at least get from the back ranks to the front with his Hold the Line skill

- Just realized, have I been calling him Man of Arms/ MoA instead of his proper name which is Man At Arms in previous blogs. My bad. I'll try to use MaA going forward.

- Wiped out in the third act again due to Duelist's health. I am okay with it because this team felt really frustrating to play with.

- Switching to MaA was the best idea, he fits so much better in this team. Occultist/ Leaper is still a great team but they need a stable 2 and 3 position to work and not dancers aka character whom like to move back and forward a lot.

- Prime dancer characters are Jester, Highway Man, Grave Robber and now the Duelist.

- LOL we need to talk about the prizes some of these Lair bosses give out, The Lair boss gave out the book for the Tangle which I was currently already in, why would I need a book for a area I am already in and can not use?

- Also speaking of loot, some of the character specific trinkets draw-backs are so bad I rather use strong no character trinkets instead. The MaA trinket I keep getting asks him to be rank 2 instead of 1 which he never is and if he is at 1 he gets punished for it.

This Trinket is Booty.

- Okay, so it appears you can go back to areas you have already beaten? I guess that was the point of getting a Tangle book within the Tangle.

Tuesday

- Thinking my new team, 'Power Creep' nicknamed after the term people use when new DLC characters replaced previous characters by doing what they do but better might be the one. Occultist/ Crusade/ Duelist/ MaA made short work of the Leviathan lair boss. Most of the times we walk away from boss battles barely alive but this was dominance, pure and simple.

- 'Power Creep' did it. We finally dusted the Obsessions confession boss on our second try. Looked up a strat that told me to stack all the debuffs on MaA to tank it and boss folded. 2 more confessional bosses to go.

- Hah, as our narrator loves to remind us, overconfidence is most insidious killer. We tried to keep going and felt we could take on Chirurgeon mini-boss in a Ambition run and whole team is quickly wiped out cause we were under-levelled. Back to start I guess.

- I do like how certain 'Quirks' make more sense in DD II, DD had some really annoying ones which also made no sense and removed so much player agency.

- DD II has kept Darkest Dungeon tradition of focusing on a poor character when they are already falling apart. Combined that with a no health Duelist and well, game over man, game over.

WHAT'S NEXT

    So again apologies for the lateness of this blog, I will try to keep it most consistent like how I did with my 'Learning AF'. Also I know I keep promising an impressions blog about DD II but I am too busy playing it so its hard to crave out the time I can to write it. At this point we might be just putting it all into Darkest Dungeon II eventual RAVE (which I know I'll give it one).

    Next blog we will explore more specifically with my brand new team which I've really enjoy using and finding the missing piece of the puzzle I needed to use the Duelist the way I want to use her. Spoiler: she is a amped up Crusader spamming Holy Lance lol. Till then.

AV

    

Week 1 of Darkest Dungeon II: Burn Bright

     Welcome to Dungeon Diving! Our ongoing blog about our Darkest Dungeon II. Similar to the style I employed for my Learning Anime Fighters, this will be a chronological 'diary' of my thoughts whilst playing the game. I will have a much longer and detailed impressions videos later this week but right now we will be talking about mostly my gut reactions whilst playing the game. This blog is designed to be ongoing and I will update it every Wednesday.

Wednesday

- I finally got Runaway's first memory unlocked. I have been playing this game for at least 3-4 days now and every time I tried to unlock her memory to get more of her skills and I kept failing. I even had to look up a video online to get an idea on how to beat it, it was that annoying.

- Fortunately Runaway's default skill set is actually pretty good and I got pretty far with just using that. As the brand new character to the Darkest Dungeon franchise I like what she brings to the table.

- I was playing this game originally with a controller which is possible but I have defaulted back to Mouse and Keyboard (M&K). There is just so many menus to navigate and constant need to figure our what moves do what and how this token affects me that doing it with a controller just wasn't doing it for me. I exclusively playing the original DD with M&K as well so that makes sense.

- Damn. I thought had a good team and everyone had good relationships and then I got destroyed by the Denial boss. I really thought I was onto something too.

Thursday

- Okay, I've found a better team lol.

- Got to the second boss, Resentment. I was focusing on it's core but it turns out its 'lungs' should be the focus. Good to know.

- Realizing I do not need to fix my wagon for the final run up to the mountain is saving me time and currency. I can focus on getting a final item instead.

- All the lair bosses aka the big bads of the region have some nasty tricks to ruin your run. I thought the easiest one was the one in the Foetor and even that thing has teeth.

Friday

- I wish there was a way to sell unwanted items, so many times I'll be a couple currency short at the Hoarder/ Hospital but I have tons of items I would love to get rid of. Just throwing stuff away is so wasteful. Sure this is a hold-over from DD but man I wished they consider changing it.

- I have beaten the first boss Denial so many times now, the second boss, Resentment however? Not so much. It feels doable tho.

Saturday

- I think I've found my go to team. It is Occultist/ Highway Man (HWM)/ Grave Robber/ Man of Arms (MoA). I have taken to calling them 'Target Locked'

Sunday

- Looking at my Darkest Dungeon wallpaper for the original game and I realize I do miss some of the original classes. Surprisingly the character I miss the most is the Arbalest/ Musketeer. DD 2 has so many annoying backline enemies which are hard to reach with most of the cast.

- Thank goodness Occultist has his 'Daemon Pull' skill which brings them close to the front ranks. When I have teams with out him I actually miss that ability so much.

- I finally beat Resentment with team 'Target Locked' I was right, focus on the lungs, interchanging with attacks on its core. Did not even lose a squad member.

- Having the same team get wiped out on the first boss in a Obsession run is very humbling tho lol.

Monday

- Tried to take down the Shambler mini-boss with Target Locked and lost the whole team except Man of Arms. Tried to complete the objectives to at least get some extra candles and the next area is another alter to Shambler and this time I can't reject fighting it. WTF man.

- This game is so addictive. I constantly tell myself I am going to play something else but I keep coming back.

- Yoooo you can get rid of positive traits at the hospital too? LOL I forgot that was a thing.

Tuesday

- Getting jumped by the Collector mini-boss after a long lair boss fight is dirty pool Red Hook. I need you guys to know that.

- Okay, did I accidentally turn on hard mode? New run, first boss is the Warlord mini-boss and my time is not strong enough for that. This is some b-s.

- Occultist 'Anamnesis' skill might not be worth it. You need two 'Unchecked Power' tokens and be in position 1 or 2. This might work for front row Occultist but who runs that combo?

- 'Obsession' is tough as well and it has 2 stages. I was having a great run and even took down Fanatics' pretty easily. Also it appears on later runs you have to fight more back to back battles to get to the boss.

WHAT'S NEXT

    So on that note, we are done with our first Darkest Dungeon II ongoing blog. I think we will be here for awhile because right now we are loving DD II. I have other team combos to try, other characters to learn and at least 3 more major bosses to conquer.

    Also we still have the upcoming Kingdom update still coming soon as well. Check back in next Wednesday for another installment of 'Dungeon Diving'.

    AV

Tainted Grail: Conquest (Impressions)

 SHOCKER! This blog talks about stuff that is not Anime Fighting games lol.

Yes, we are actually talking about something different today but also very familiar as well. If you do not know, I am am a massive fan of Roguelites. Specifically, deck building ones. Well last week, Steam in its infinite wisdom decided to do a whole sale dedicated to them and well, I could not resist and I brought a game I've had on my radar for a moment.

The game in question is called Tainted Grail: Conquest. It is based on a tabletop RPG/ board game by Krzysztof Piskorski. LOL you know if I actually said that allowed I would butcher that poor name. Tainted Grail: Conquest is actually a 'companion' piece for the big scale RPG that the studio Questline is making called Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon (which is currently in early access).

Funny story, for the brief time I had PC Xbox Game Pass, I had this in my que but I never got around to playing it so when I got a chance to actually play it and it on a discount I could not turn it down. I mean it has all the elements I enjoy as well. I am a big fan of dark fantasy, Dungeons & Dragons settings and as fan of medieval stuff, I also am interest in Arthurian legends as well. Adding this is a challenging roguelite with perma progression, multiple classes to unlock and a deck-builder, this was entirely up my alley.

So enough with the history, how does it play?

Well, the good news is, its amazing. The atmosphere suits the game, the art style is very dark gothic which I like and pulls no punches. Now Darkest Dungeon and Iratus was also suitably dark but with a animated flair, this game aims more for the realism and its good.

The gameplay format is tried and true, with your deck being filled with different types of attacks, blocks or buffs. Some of the card combos I've found in my short time so far are satisfying to pull off. However the game is also very unforgiving like it should be especially in the early runs. Each runs is not for naught tho as you unlock more cards, characters and more just by playing. A first boss, which I've beaten a couple days ago now was previously a unsurmountable goal until I got the right cards but the game also never feels unfair. Also once a boss is beaten it stays dead and you progress to the next big bad, which is surprising but also a nice change. The game even gives you goals to aim for 'aka save this many NPCs, beat this boss or complete this side quest for to build bonds with people' which nice to have in a game like this. Also if you restart a run as soon as you die, the game even offers you buffs like more health potions and what not or even no buffs if you are a purists which I must say is pretty cool and low-key reminds me of King Of Fighters games when if you continued the game will offer you some buffs like infinite super meter or opponent is at half health for continuing.

The game's soundtrack is surprisingly robust with some heavy rock music and the NPCs are fully voiced which is a nice surprise. This feels like an indie sometimes but it also feels like a Double A (at least) as well. My only real gripe right now is some spotty performance and frame drops but its not bad enough for it to be distracting.

Overall, I am enjoying it and I feel a RAVE coming on depending on how the rest of the game treats me. Enjoying everything about it even made me look up the proper RPG video game Fall of Avalon but its a first person RPG in the vein of Skyrim and I am not a fan of that style of RPG. However I did get a good deck-builder out of it at least. Once I 'conquer' it, I'll be back with more.

AV

OKAY: Pony Island

 

For context, during the rebirth of my blog, we created 2 more review categories to go along with RANTS and RAVES. We created 'Rave' which is not fully capitalized to signify a game we enjoyed but we had issues with and that was given to Remnant II. We also created OKAY which is given to games we enjoyed but we have some real issues with. The only game that has been given a OKAY so far was Ghost Song and you can check that out OKAY: Ghost Song but now it appears we have a new one to add to the list. Pony Island unfortunately can not be a RAVE or even a Rave. It has to be an OKAY in my eyes and I hope to explain why in this review.

Pony Island is the first commercial game released by Daniel Mullins, the genius behind Inscryption (which got a very high RAVE) and The Hex (which we have not played yet). It was on the strength of Inscryption that I bought both Pony Island when it was on sale. I watched some trailers for Pony Island, got confused which is par for course with a Daniel Mullins game but was intrigued so I decided to dive in.

Right off the bat, I could tell this was game was going to be a trip when the start option was not working (a trick Inscryption borrowed) and I had to literally play around in the options to get it up and running. I chuckled and I knew this was going to be a good time. The game booted up and I was thrown into a rather strange, almost Atari-esque landscape and I was using a pony to navigate a obstacle course and after a couple runs, I started noticing glitches on the screen. I of course followed my curiosity and found other options and the game got even more Daniel Mullins-like. Soon we were having fourth wall breaks with someone talking directly to us, general weirdness and an uneasiness that work directly against the cute nature of the game. The way the game was played stayed the same (pony run from one side of the screen to the other) but soon we were adding 'adventure modes', lazers, flying ponies and more.

and the fun stops here.

Interspersed into the rather simplistic gameplay is arguably the reason why Pony Island gets an OKAY from me. Pony Island constantly throws these faux programming 'puzzles' at you as progression blockers. I understand why they exist because a lot of the game is about 'breaking' the system and even some 'hacking' but it really did nothing for my experience and after my fifth or sixth one, I started dreading them. These puzzles are mostly simplistic, asking you to bring a value up to a certain amount or getting pass some blockage in the 'code' by using arrows down, left, or warp/ portal arrows. All of them normally take a couple tries to figure out and are not overly complex but this constant break in gameplay is what really got to me. Being fully transparent, these 'logic' puzzles popped up occasionally in Inscryption and they became progression blockers in the second act and they were my least favorite part of the game and I would always just looked up the solutions online instead of working it out. For Pony Island through, a game which has been out for awhile now, online solutions like the ones I used for Inscryption do not exist so I had to brute force them. By the end, the very last one which really confused me and took me awhile to figure out had defeated me mentally and I was happy I had no more after it. By then the story had come to an end and despite a insane ending (again very Daniel Mullins-esque) could not save me from deciding I was only OKAY with this game.

The sad thing is, when this game hits, it hits. Some of the boss battles were really fun, the actually storylines (and yes I said storylines cause there is a deeper one buried in it just like how Inscryption had layers) really hook you. Daniel Mullin and his games real strength lies in telling a compelling story and because of that I was inclined to complete the game even despite some of the things I did not enjoy and it also helped the game is very short and can be complete in one long play session. Working through some of the game unique approaches, like slight spoiler, there is a section where you play a literal text version of the game where you type in text demands (jump for example) and everything is described to you in text form right down to confetti that rains down when you beat a stage. There is a even bigger moment where the game really breaks the fourth wall but I won't share that one cause it is a much bigger spoiler but it is on par with some of Inscrpytion's mind bending moments, really had me laughing and hooked.

However, herein lies what I think maybe my biggest problem with the game. I think I did myself a dis-service by playing Inscryption first and than going back and playing Pony Island. Inscryption really is Mr. Mullins at their peak. Insane, imaginative and very inventive. You can see peaks of that ingenuity in here but it is also buried under a lot of trial and error. This game has good bones but I can not wholly recommend it. Also despite the game being pretty short and I have got most of the achievements already, the achievement hunter in me can not even bear to go through some of the puzzles I had to endure again to get all of them. The simplistic game play loop of making the pony run to one side why jumping, shooting and flying is fine but not enough to keep me coming back for more either. I completed the game, unlocked the 'hidden truth' (which add a lot of complexity to the story) as well (using the built in Chapter search) but the final achievements requires a full playthrough and I do not know if I can do it and actually enjoy it.

In conclusion; I can say Pony Island, the game about ponies (but not really) is an OKAY title. If you enjoy the faux programming sequences you might even really like the game but those sequences really broke the game for me and even made me dread a second complete playthrough. The game play loop is simple and fun but not something you want to keep on doing. Similar to Ghost Song, I think OKAY is really the best way to review this. It is a game I enjoyed but there are some fundamental problems for me which I can not ignore. Also Daniel Mullin's has said his next big game is Pony Island 2: Panda Circus so hopefully he can take some of the lessons he learned from all his previous titles and really give us another mind-blowing experience.

AV

P.S Playing this and Doki Doki Literature Club + (which would have been another OKAY review but I do have as much to say about it with it being a visual novel and all) has pretty much burned me out on indies for a minute so I'll probably take a slight break from them before playing another one. Sorry Narita Boy!

RAVE: Dredge

 "Our brains deliberately make us forget things, to prevent insanity"

    H.P Lovecraft

Dredge is a fishing simulator, a inventory manager but also a dive into grief and the madness that ensues. It is a game about the story of two men. The fisherman and the collector and what happens when the two collide in the middle. Dredge is also our first RAVE of 2024 and our first 100% game of this year. This is our story.

I realized as I went to purchase another different game that I have developed quite a affinity for the games that Team 17 produce. In collaborations with other smaller studios, they have given me games like 'Blasphemous 1 and 2', 'Thymesia', the I am going to get back to it 'Narita Boy' and 'Dredge' (this one created by Black Salt Games). These a just a couple examples of how Team 17 seems to pick games I like and gravitate towards. Pretty good for a company that used to be known only for their 'Worms' games. I think it is because I enjoy Team 17 games that Dredge was on my radar early and after hearing the premise I was 'hooked' pun intended. (There will probably be a couple fishing puns in this RAVE I am afraid). However in the back of my head, I was thinking, would I enjoy a fishing game with mostly quick time events? It turns out at first my fears might have been warranted and in the early days a RAVE for Dredge did not seem likely.

When I first booted up Dredge, I was hooked by the very unique graphics, this game looks like a water painting come to life and it definitely swings more towards cell shading than realism. However look at the image above? Is it not breathtaking? Also the fact you can clearly see above and below water was super important in what at its core is a fishing game. The music whilst isn't a stand out is still very cozy and relaxing (until dangers rear up their head). Black Salt Games, the maker of Dredge really put a lot of work into this and it shows, not bad for a bunch of New Zealanders (I'm Australian at my core, irrational competition with NZ is in our blood) and a rather small indie studio and their first major game I believe. However below the watery surface (SORRY) was some things I did not immediately enjoy and it slowed my roll with the game and even made me pick up other games as a distraction.

I must say, if you are reading this blog, I would like to draw you attention to a newly added side bar I call UPDATES. In Updates, I keep you up to date on what I am playing and my general thoughts. For example, leading up to this RAVE, a couple times I mentioned I liked Dredge but I also have reservations about it however the updates changed in time and eventually I got pulled in, hook, line and sinker (SORRY). As it stood, my reservations were not something that could not be conquered by playing the game more and now I can say I've beaten the game twice, got both the endings and have 100% all the achievements including a very big, long, collect-a-thon. I purchased the DLC 'The Pale Reach' and finished all the side quests and got 100% of the achievements for that too. What I am saying is eventually this game became my jam and now I am sad I have completed it so completely that I will probably not play it again until the next DLC drops.

Enough about me through, lets talk more about Dredge. As I mentioned earlier, Dredge at its core is a story driven, fishing simulator with some dark undertones. The H.P Lovecraft quote at the beginning isn't just for show, Dredge is heavily inspired by Lovecraftian mythos and especially his stories about the sea and what lies below it. Similar to how Darkest Dungeon (another heavily inspired by H.P game I really enjoyed, see my previous RAVE about it), it builds on the foundation of what H.P always warned us about. The fear of the unknown. In this case, the unknown horror is localized in a archipelago of islands with colorful names like 'The Devil's Spine' and a small town of eccentric people. Of course, we have some normal people like the lady who fixes our boat and upgrades it when given the right material (more on that later) or the kindly old painter but than we have people like the lighthouse keeper who knows more than she is saying and the driving force of the game, the collector. We meet the collector relatively early and him and our player character the fisherman has many meetings with him and he is whom sends us on our very elaborate fetch quest.

Gameplay wise is where I had my first issues with the game, the game has a day/night cycle with the night time being particularly dangerous to go fishing in and because of this, you want to do most of your leg work and finding what you need during the daytime. However the cycle moves very quickly where a couple minutes dredging an item will equate to 3-4 hours game time and you'll be stuck out in the dark a lot more than you want to be. Sure it gets you into where the game wants you with your sanity meter spiraling out of control but the day/night cycle is a bit too accelerated for my taste. I put in a fair amount of time into Dredge (almost 30 hours) but the game built in timer says I've played it for 200+ days. There is a way you can make time move much slower in the game options but that is not how the game is intended to be played so I honestly will not entertain that. However I wish there was a compromise. I did eventually set my in-game clock to wake me up at the earliest I could so I could still capture some night fishes (which definitely exist) without being out at sea at the craziest hours. Thankfully nothing is really timed in this game and previously timed quests with certain individuals was patched out so the in-game date is a arbitrary number. You can start a collector quest, go do all the side quests you want to do, do some side fishing for some profit and not be on a strict timer because the collector will still be there waiting which I appreciate, my game plan eventually came down to doing that and the collector's item was the last thing I handed in before I moved onto the next chapter which I always took a one/two day real time break before going back in.

Focusing on the things I did not like at first, I also did not like how fragile my boat was and how a simple tap on a cliff face or a stray tentacle thing could sink my dreams. I especially did not enjoy how slow my boat was and with a game with a accelerated time, it took me hours to get from one side of the port to the other. The quick day and nights and the handling of the boat plus the general feeling of being lost were some of the reasons why I did not enjoy myself as much as I thought I would. The irony is the thing I thought would not speak to me the most, the fishing mini-games, became the thing I liked the most about Dredge. It quickly became more than that though. I realized that the shipwright could upgrade my boat and I could find resources to upgrade it pretty easily so soon I had a much more sturdy rig, I took to researching and how it unlocked other engines which could be attached to the boat to make her glide on the water and most importantly I found guides which showed me where I need to go and helped me stay on the path and not get stuck in the weeds (which I understand now I hate lol). Once I fully embraced the game Dredge was, I fell in love with it and it steadily became the only game I played with spouts of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle and DNF Duel on the side. In the end, I completed the game and its subsequent DLC and I am very happy I did. I immediately dived (SORRY) back in through to get another ending, hunt down more multiple fishes at all times of the day and night and I even got all the aberrations, Eldritch inspired lovelies like this one

I got my EYE on you.

I normally hate collect-a-thon quests but since I enjoyed the fishing mini game I did not mind it and within a couple days I completed my collection. Each fish has a colorful description too. So the gameplay is good but the real hook is the story and well we can not talk about that without dropping a big spoiler. IF you do not want to be spoiled just stroll down to the image of the Cat-hulu and enjoy the conclusion.

Going back to what I mentioned earlier, Dredge is the story of two people, the collector and the fisherman and as we come to learn, they are one and the same. It turns out the collector is a alter-ego the fisherman created after a tragedy where he lost his wife at sea. In a very Lovecraftian twist, he has decided to turn to the dark arts to get her back and he does not care whom will be sacrificed for this. The elaborate fetch quest that you have been helping him do is to perform a ritual and well, let just say it does not end well for anyone. A lot of folks would get this ending on their first try because the true 'good' ending is much more hidden and requires dredging up (SORRY) the history of the inhabitants of the town which includes the lighthouse keeper and the original mayor of the town. Both endings are masterful and really enhanced the game for me and even  nicer is the game allows you to experience both endings on one save so you do not need to completely replay the game for the other endings. I mentioned earlier that even if the fishing game did not entrap me, I would have kept going because of the story and it was worth it.

In closing; yes Dredge gets a RAVE and I can honestly say you do not even have to go all in like I did and you will still have a good time. The fishing game is fun, inventory management becomes a game in itself, the storyline has just enough to hook (SORRY ) you and keep you on the line. These indie games producers continues to blow me away with how much Black Salt Games can do on a smaller budget and Dredge continues to keep up the amazing track record that Team 17 knows what they are doing when it comes to publishing. Do not let this chance to go insane, go away.

AV

UPDATE: Game Changer

 So... so... THIS

Inscryption maybe the most addicted card collecting Rogue-lite I have ever played. I complete one run and immediately boot back in for another one and another and well I can not stop playing it.

The upcoming RAVE for this is going to be wild because I am going to have to figure out how to hide the spoilers because honestly I want everyone to experience this game the way it is intended. However we need to talk about this game. WE...NEED...TOO.

If this worked we are cooking

A-V

RAVE: Iratus: Lord of the Dead

 It is strange. Sometimes I get in the mood to play a new game and get started but sometimes I just swing back to some old favorites and get caught up playing that instead. Such is the case with Iratus: Lord of the Dead. I first played this game on my Steam Deck way before I ever played Darkest Dungeon and funny enough a lot of critics of Iratus call it a Darkest Dungeon clone. Because I was strangely afraid of playing Darkest Dungeon (due to its perceived difficulty) I decided to try something similar but no way near as hard. Within a couple days playing it I truly feel in love with Iratus and honestly I remember nothing but fun times when I was playing it. Fast forward a long stint with Darkest Dungeon and all it's DLCs, I got in the mood to go back to Iratus. I also felt that if my desktop PC was able to handle Darkest Dungeon it should not have a problem with Iratus too and I was able to run it without a hitch.

Within a couple hours I found myself drawn back into the world of Iratus and this time I wanted to try some new minions I did not use previously. One of the by-products from switching from the Steam Deck to my desktop was losing all my save data so I hate to start from scratch progress wise and I oddly did not mind that. So without any more fanfare, we now have our RAVE for Iratus: Lord of the Dead.

    

Iratus is a dungeon-crawler roguelite similar to Darkest Dungeon (DD) as I previously mentioned. You play as Iratus, a rather cocky necromancer who is trying to conquer the world. Unlike some roguelites the lost you incur are not to yourself but to the minions you control and when you lose a minion they are gone for good. That Level 15 Banshee you've been slowly levelling up with all them cool items? Gone if you have a particularly bad battle. Sometimes you can lose a whole squad and have to start all over with a brand new team. However unless you lose all your minions you can rarely be defeated which make it a bit easier compared to some roguelites.

Iratus is not the most graphically intense game but the graphics are very serviceable especially for an indie game in this genre. It is on the same scale as Darkest Dungeon with just key frames of animation being the focus and definitely better than Indies' Lies minimalist approach. It also has a gothic art style to it, similar to Darkest Dungeon but with a more Dungeons and Dragon approach compared to DD's Lovecraftian style. The sound is okay, nothing to write home about however the guy who does the voice lines for Iratus is definitely having a good time and it shows in his performance (even tho hearing the same lines over and over can get a bit grating). The sound effects are nice tho and very satisfying when you score hits or cast spells. It is however in the gameplay where Iratus shines.

As mentioned above, Iratus is a tough game too however it is not as hard as say Darkest Dungeon. Thankfully Iratus does not borrow from Darkest Dungeon's mechanic where you get a disease and afflictions even if you have a good run. The upgrade economy is much more generous too compared to DD. Also as a nice twist because you are playing the bad guys, you get to inflict the stress on your opponents instead of the other way around. Some of the cooler teams in Iratus actually do stress damage instead of physical damage and you can actually scare enemies to death or install so much fear in them that they run away or turn on their allies. Its actually one of the cooler elements that the thing you feared the most in DD is now a benefit for you in Iratus.

The minions are what sells Iratus to me. Using resources you obtain while playing you combine these resources to make minions. When ether it be a fearsome Werewolf, a sturdy reliable Skeleton to a backstabbing conniving Lost Soul. You have so many choices and making up a team of maximum 4 characters, you can make endless combinations of teams and find synergy for days. During my most recent run for example, I use a mostly stress team with some melee hitters for the stress resistant folks (which there are some) and it was a blast especially because I never tried a stress team before. This constant discover of new teams and new ways of playing kept me going for 3 back to back runs and unlike some roguelites, a full run aka beating the game is an investment especially compared to a 30-40 min run in Risk of Rain 2. On average, if you want to beat Iratus, you normally are in it for a long haul of a 3 to 4 hr campaign.

Each minion can also be built according to your preference with each having multiple abilities you can build one way or another and they also have a special attacks too which are powered by Iratus' resource called 'wrath' and these are the most spectacular attacks in their arsenals. Iratus is no back-seat driver too, he can contribute with spells at least once a round and potions (which you craft with resources) which can either buff his squad or nerf the opposition. Iratus also has something snarky to say when ether his squad scores a kill or a he hits his opponents with a nasty spell. He is like the narrator of the game much like the narrator in DD (but honestly, nowhere near as cool).

Like all roguelites, the fun comes from the random elements the game throws at you, the challenge of a particularly hard boss or when you sometimes find a broken team combination and just steam roll over your enemies. Along the way there is chances to earn cool items for you or your minions, sacrifice your minions for more resources and even random events with multiple choices (similar to Slay the Spire and Indies' Lies). Whilst the challenge is there, honestly Iratus is one of the easier roguelites and completely wipes do happen but it is not as common. If anything, if you are starting off on this type of roguelites, I would highly recommend it because it'll definitely ease you into the genre. The game even has automatic auto-saves and multiple difficulty choices to make it easier to pick up. The game has since released some DLC which added some more minions (and new area with harder enemies which unlocks the 'true' ending)  and an extra character or two. I enjoyed this game so much I bought all the DLC (Wrath of the Necromancer) and even brought a 'supporter pack' (which included the OST, alternative skins and a digital strategy guide) and a couple of the alternative skin packs as well. Unfrozen, the makers of the game has recently announced they are working on a sequel and another project which is very interesting.

Can you believe this is Fanart?! Amazing work from Coremort.

Iratus: Lord of the Dead is basically Darkest Dungeon but you are not a fan of how difficult DD gets or you just want to play a bad guy for once. The game has a lot of charm and very easy to pick up and play as well. You have numerous minions at your disposal and each one brings their own unique flare to the game and along the way you will slay many heroes. I honestly feel because I enjoyed Iratus, I was able to tackle Darkest Dungeon and we know how that ended *cough* 5 blogs back to back *cough*. It gets a RAVE which is the highest recommendation on this blog and on top of that, it is not that expensive to pick up. It is constantly on sale along with the DLCs and it is well worth your time and money.

C'mon. Sometimes it is good to be bad.

AV

He Rises... Again

 

Iratus: Lord of the Dead RAVE coming soon.

AV