Bright

Modern day fantasy.

This movie is a strange blend of police procedural and action in a modern world inhabited by fantasy races (and filled with fantastic racism). The main protagonists are a cop duo of Nick (Joel Edgerton), the first orc cop, and Daryl (Will Smith) who seems to be the only black cop.

He makes the show.

Everyone hates everyone for various reasons, and the appearance of a magic wand which is equal parts illegal, dangerous, and valuable acts as a catalyst for some/a lot of violence.

There are huge holes in this story, some from the main antagonist and the elf female lead (if you can call her that?), but mostly from not defining what magic can do and what the cost of using it is. 

Despite that, I really ended up enjoying this movie especially orc cop Nick who is the clear MVP here. Probably not for everyone, but I certainly liked it and would watch it again. I give it 3 fairy pests out of 5.

Neverwinter Online: Green Dragon Cultist Recruitment

[Part of the Gallery]

While the Black Dragon Cultists are numerous in Neverwinter Online, the Green Dragon Cultists are quite few in number. I thought it would be due to being more selective...

Turns out they are just dragon worshiping Nazis.

Black Panther

Expect to say "Blek Penther" alot after watching it.

After winning the cosmic lottery via a useful space rock, Wakanda advances rapidly in technology and decides to hide from the rest of the world. The story picks up as a new king, T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is crowned and must deal with Wakanda's state of secrecy and consequences of tradition.

As a Marvel superhero movie, the visuals here are really neat and the actors all get a thumbs up. Alas those are the only things it has going for it as the story is quite silly, the main bad is confusing (or just stupid), and the climactic fight is a PG CGI brawlfest.

Only the King gets the cool armor.

The Wakandan warriors (who seem to also be trained in song and dance while standing near dangerously high drops) also suffer from "spin the weapon while waiting to attack" syndrome which is unfortunate.

It's mindless entertainment, but this is one hero who either doesn't really need a 2nd movie or alternatively, needs a fantastic 2nd movie. I give this 2.5 drug using monarchs out of 5 and have no desire to watch it again.

Neverwinter Online: Black Dragon Cultist Recruitment

[Part of the Gallery]

Due to the endless swarms of dragon cultists in Neverwinter Online, I started thinking "how do they recruit all these people?"

Works for Viagra I guess? :P

Memento

"Now, where was I?"

After suffering an injury during a home invasion, Leonard (Guy Pearce) can no longer make new memories but that doesn't stop him in seeking revenge in this well written and well acted thriller.

Now there are few movies that I've seen which require your full attention at all times, but this is clearly one of them as half of the story is presented in reverse chronological order.

But is this a lie?

While it makes it harder to follow, it also makes it far more engaging. Guy Pearce does a fantastic job as Leonard, but so are the rest of the cast. As I don't want to spoil it, I'll just say if you haven't seen it yet please do so, as it is a very good film. Just be warned, it's not one you can switch your brain off while watching. I give it out 4 insulin shots of 5 and would certainly watch it again.

Sniper Elite 4: The Oldest Trick

[Another one for the Gallery]

Gets them everytime, all you need is a bush and bullets!

Freebie! SCP: Secret Laboratory

Horror and Comedy rolled into one.

The SCP Foundation holds some of the strangest monsters known (or should I say unknown) to man. Based on the single player game SCP: Containment Breach (which is also free), this game plays out a scenario where everything gets loose. The only difference is this is multiplayer!

So yes, while everything has the horror vibe you still get kids on the mic, people with harmonicas, and other randoms to listen to. Fortunately you will only hear those close to you or of your team which does add some funny entertainment and/or annoyance.

Don't blink or it will kill you.

Along with a randomly generated map each game, you will also be randomly spawned as one of the various faction classes: Class-D prisoner, Scientist, Nine-Tail Fox soldier, Chaos Insurgent, or one of the unique SCPs. Your goal will vary as appropriate to either be escape, contain, or kill.

I've been playing on a server with 40 players so things tend to get crazy, however the respawn delay is pretty long which means there's a fair bit of down time upon death. Sometimes, you also don't respawn so try not to die! Not the best in terms of graphics or control but it potentially can be a fun diversion. Best of all is that it's currently free on Steam! I give it 2 neck snaps out of 5 and recommend it to SCP or horror fans.

The Mummy (2017)

One very confused movie.

Nick (Tom Cruise) is a greedy soldier who values wealth over all things and when he uncovers a sarcophagus of a cursed ancient Egyptian things get very bad, and very strange.

This is one reboot that definitely doesn't work for me with characters being stupid, scary things being funny, plot points not making sense, and surprisingly a lack of acting skill for some people. Tom Cruise is good, but his character is basically unlikable.

Just kill me know sand storm. Kill me now.

Adding Russel Crowe's character and organization is also just ... wrong. I suspect even he knew how absurd it was based on some of his scenes. Despite some comedy bits working well and decent enough effects this isn't one I'd watch again, and only give it out 1.5 camel spiders of 5.

Neverwinter Online: Faster Weeklies in Barovia

Repetitive tasks get old quick, and while Barovia is quite a nice place here are some pointers to get you through some of the weeklies quicker.

1) Do the Yesterhill BHE earlier during the week cycle. More people trying to do it means more chances for you to get it done.

2) After doing the Pack of Lies instance, you get a weekly that covers the same ground. If you aren't hunting cards then you can skip most of the early combat in the repeating weekly thusly:

-After examining first body, mount up and ride on before spawning wolves catch you.

-After examining 2nd body ride on all the way to the mouth of the cave. If your mount is fast enough, you can avoid all exterior combat. Jump up and Spam F to enter the cave and bypass the wolf man right outside.

-Inside the cave, you must kill the group in the tunnel, then you can run past everything else without aggroing them by running through the lake. Fight the Alpha and run out the same way you came in.

-Once you get out, mount up and circle to your right to flank the pack leaders. Range attack them to lure them to you and then just focus on hurting one till they flee. Note: you will need to pull back after your first attack or your companion will charge and aggro everything. After this point, you'll need to kill everything else.

3) Bypassing enemies in the Old Bonegrinder instance is easier:

- Run past most of the spiders, kill the set at the dead end and kill the witch.

- While mounted, stick to the right side of the forest (hug the mist) when triggering the next cut scene then escape (ESC) out of it as soon as you can and run past the initial scarecrows. If you then hug the left side while crossing the farm you can avoid all those scarecrows too.

- Lure the second witch a little bit and kill her and her summon. If you go too far away she'll call you a coward and reset position/HP. Note: Let the summon aggro you from line of sight. If you range attack, all the field scarecrows will wake up.

- Afterwards, if you are fast enough you might be able to rush and spam F to get into the basement but that only has worked for me when wolves guard the door and not shadow demons. After this point, you'll need to kill everything else.

That's it from me, hope it's been of some help to you!

Shadowrun: Whole

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

The headcases become significantly less organized after dealing with Jane, giving some breathing room at Smedley's Square. Despite the continued lock down spirits are high, for Carol particularly as she has earned enough money to get out of Smedley's debt.

For an exorbitant fee, she undergoes surgery again - removing her robotic limbs to be replaced by a vat grown variety. As a bonus, the donor was even of the same skin color so only the keenest of eyes could tell they weren't originally her own.

Almost good as new.

Also, less cybernetics means better magic abilities!

During recovery Carol is visited by her few friends and allies, including Smedley who congratulates her and lets her recover in peace.

"When you're ready to work again, you know where to find me."

Carol hoped that would be awhile yet, as she still had funds left over to enjoy some simple luxuries.

A victory requires a celebration after all!

Shadowrun: Left for Dead

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

When they find her, Jane is in the center of a large circular room connected to all sorts of wires and is now totally possessed by the virus. The squad makes quick work of her generators, taking cover from her radial fire virus wall attacks as they advance.

This only makes Jane angry, as she summons large waves of hounds, headcases and turrets  to protect her. Barbel is eventually brought down by a pack of dogs, Maxine severely wounded by gunfire and Batshit takes a full hit of the virus wall attack when he is caught in the open, effectively disintegrating him.

Jane is being worn down though, and at an opportune moment - Carol pulls out Smedley's Vindicator chain gun and empties it at her frenemy. Jane is torn from the wires and collapses in a heap. There are too many headcases still around so Carol grabs Maxine and the two get out of there, leaving Jane for dead.

Defeated, but possibly still alive.

Shadowrun: What Doesn't Kill You

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

With the virus release imminent Sarah is quick to pull the plug on the mainframe. Jane responds by making it explode somehow, killing the police officer and most of Carol's team. She herself is knocked her out and awakens to find herself about to be experimented on by Aztech scientists at a strange lab.

Another common occurrence it seems.

Carol manages to free herself and kill the lab rats, but then finds herself in a large room surrounded by powerful headcases while Jane mocks her over the speaker system. Fortunately a team composed of Lanfey, Bardo and Payday arrive just in time to rescue her. Smedley clearly cares about his investment!

As thanks, Carol volunteers to lead the attack against Jane who is easily tracked as she is creating a massive power spike for some nefarious purpose. She loads up on weaponry and assembles the kill squad of Barbel, Maxine and Batshit - the only other survivor from the control room explosion who is equally keen for some pay back.

Shadowrun: New Age Spam

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

There's no time to worry about Jane's new behavior as the team finds Smedley's Square under direct assault by Aztech forces, now desperate since their bombing attempt failed. Carol joins up with Batshit, Blood Countess and Darwin, a dwarf hammerite, to stop them.

Manastorm is very effective!

Between Blood Countess' turrets and Batshit's new AoE spell they aren't much of a challenge. As soon as they are defeated Smedley sends them on the offensive, along with Sarah and four militia guys to attack the main Aztech broadcasting tower (the only one left working) and broadcast Allison's recorded report which contains the truth about Aztechnology and the virus beyond the quarantine zone.

The militia guys don't make it past the parking lot, getting slain by eagle shamans, blood spirits, and one to a guard dog but the rest penetrate the facility just fine - with Darwin actually surviving toe to toe against blood spirits with his hammer. Upon reaching the control room, Jane radios in to reveal she has other ideas.

They are going to broadcast the virus instead.

Shadowrun: Weaponized Malware

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Nicki Law must have spilled the beans because not long after the last outing, Aztechnology sends in sappers to Smedley's Square. Without time to get her usual squad she joins Ratdoktor and male counterparts Bardo, an orc chain gunner, and Batshit, a tattooed mage to cleanse the tunnels of Aztech fanatics who are *guarding timed explosives*.

One of the zealot sun priests manages to kill Ratdoktor with an eviscerating spell, but the team manages to defuse all the bombs in time. Jane then has a breakthrough in regards to the virus: it's part dragon blood/part nano tech - one heck of a way to weaponize a dragon.

Apparently that's a common thing.

The best place to find more info is at the research lab tied to the data Jane found, so she takes Carol, Bardo, Blood Countess and Maxine (another autogunner) to the location and the team gets past the heavy security, including more mechs, to let Jane hook up directly to their mainframe. While all of Aztechs dirty secrets are now revealed, Jane seems to start acting funny...

Shadowrun: Carol's Company

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Aztechnology Corp really has roots in this mysterious plague, trying to erase data, bribe Knight Errants to cover up a crime scene, and subsequently try to just wipe out all the Knight Errant cops. All of this fails thanks to Carol and company. Smedley is most impressed.

After escorting the reporter to take pictures of the stadium and office tower (sites the dragon attacked from way back when), and keeping her safe from the influx of new headcases, Carol's team is sent to an Aztech serverfarm to hack up more data.

At least Allison isn't totally useless.

This one is guarded by NeoNet drones and battlemechs! While they complete the objective, Nicki Law is tazered down during the escape run to the elevator and is captured by the enemy.

Shadowrun: Special Delivery

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

After the losses from last time, Carol is tasked with assembling a new team to do some recovery an air dropped package for Smedley. This includes Nicki Law, an Asian autorifler, elf mage Lanfey, and Barbel a troll hammerite.

A quick detour through headcase tunnels where hive controller heavies are attempting to overload valves of a nearby power plant serves as a good warm up before the squad heads topside to battle Aztech forces who are also interested in said package.

The eagle shamans have a suicide ability to turn themselves into blood spirits which is quite terrifying. Fortunately the roof top area is spacious and open enough to weaken the monsters at a distance.

And finish them off point blank

Upon reaching the package they find it contains a person: en elf reporter named Allison Sanborn. They steal another ambulance and take her back to Smedley's Square.

Shadowrun: No Appointment

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

With the square secure, Sarah reveals Luna spilled the beans about the Dragonslayer gang working as muscle for the Aztechnology corporation. Carol, Halon, Zue Zue, Thunderb0lz and Ratdoktor are sent to pay her company contact a visit at their office which is heavily guarded by sun mages and tough jaguar adepts who can survive point blank shotgun blasts to the face.

As they fight their way up, Zue Zue is gunned down for being too forward and getting flanked. Similarly, Thunderb0lz is "jaguared" when she is too far back and is caught by an elevator lobby ambush.

Jaguar Adept table top version.

When the team arrives at the target's office, they are too late as he is executed just as they enter. The assassin jumps out the window and leaves a powerful blood spirit to cover his escape. The monster evades the initial salvo then forces itself into Halon's mouth, effectively drowning her.

While it is doing this, Ratdoktor unloads her shotgun into Halon, killing both her teammate and the spirit. She and Carol then grab what data files they can and flee the scene.

Shadowrun: Property Defense

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Carol awakens back at Smedley's Square, having been saved by her team. Mostly. Her arms and legs have now been replaced by robotic ones as apparently her original limbs were too damaged to save so Smedley had them hacked off.

Graphite was the only color available.

She is understandably upset, but now most of her is technically Smedley's property (which he can turn off remotely), she has no choice but to comply with any and all of his tasks. He wanted to get money back on his investment after all.

Eventually cleared to return to the field, her first task is to help defend the tunnels beneath the square against a massive invasion of headcases. Her old team mates Sarah, Halon, Ratdoktor, and Thunderb0lz are among the other defenders against the tide.

Among the headcases are suicide bombers which become key in stopping their allies. Victorious underground they head up to the street level to assist in covering Blood Countess in setting up defense turrets and Zue Zue in establishing a magic barrier but these are easy compared to the initial assault. The headcases eventually fall back.

Shadowrun: No Escape

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Sarah learns a few things from Luna, the first in regards to a bunch of live captives the Dragonslayers have been collecting for experimentation. Carol, now trained in automatic weaponry thanks to Halon, is tasked in rescuing them.

She brings Hakon, Thunderb0lz and elf mage Zue Zue in their stolen ambulance to the secret location and finds a very tough fight awaiting them with mostly heavy weapon Dragonslayers on patrol. Even the new rocket shooting drone of Thunderb0lz has trouble taking them down.

They only manage to rescue one test subject who hadn't yet been turned into a headcase. On the way out the squad runs into infected Dragonslayers who obviously are more hard core than the regular variety. The team almost makes it back to the ambulance when Carol suddenly finds herself mere feet away from a brute wielding a heavy machine gun.

Blinding pain accompanied by the deafening roar of gun fire fills her before everything goes black.

If the main character goes down, a time limit to win appears.

Shadowrun: Ninja Magic

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

During Carol's recovery back at base, Sarah's investigation led to her arrest by the forces of Knight Errant (police) and is now in need of rescue. After getting fake ID's from Jane, Carol assembled her team of Halon, Thunderb0lz and Hangover the dwarf ninja who is really good with her katana.

Using some tunnels to get to the precinct leads into a small skirmish against headcases but nothing the team can't handle. Breaking Sarah out of the prison is even easier, though the Knight Errant forces up their game during the pursuit through the warehouse district.

You can tell they're up to no good.

After a trying combat, the team is able to escape and a battered Sarah is able to give them the current location of Luna the dragonslayer boss. Carol leads her team to the rooftops where they clash against Luna and her gang in earnest. Hangover manages to win her duel against a chainsaw brute only to have the teleporting Luna blast her off to her death.

This puts the fat magician in a bad position though, and the remaining squaddies incapacitate her for questioning.

Shadowrun: Blood Harvest

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

After upgrading her pistol, Carol is tasked next for a major offensive against the Dragonslayers and is teamed up with her old allies Al'sia the elf mage, Thunderb0lz and her new drones, and trusty shotgunner Ratdoktor. Bloodcountess the elf hacker as well as autogunners Maevas Bahome and Halon the orc also go with them.

With the enemy are now sporting heavy machineguns, chainsaws, flamethrowers, grenades and heavy armor the numbers are warranted. The fighting begins at a warehouse district, where Al'sia is caught by surprise and chainsawed in half. Advancing to the docks, Maevas is cut down by flanking machine gun fire.

Cover: It's very important.

They finally reach the morgue where they find the Dragonslayers harvesting organs from slain headcases. Their toughest guys are in there, and everyone left save Thunderb0lz is near death by the time they clean the place out to let Sarah McCarthy investigate.

Shadowrun: Boston Lockdown

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

The interior of the stadium is a wreck, with some parts still aflame from the dragon attack. Worse, there are crazies in there who seem to be zombified into a kind of hive mind. They are initially poorly armed and pose little threat but the ones further in have firearms and one puts a slug right between Anjelica's eyes, killing her instantly.

One member down, the team still manages to steal the items Smedley is after and reach top side - only to find the whole area now swarming with these zombie headcases. Police officer Sarah McCarthy joins the party for their escape, and her stun grenades are pretty handy.

AoE attacks are great!

Carol leads the team back to the ambulance and on the way Thunderb0lz's drone gets smashed and Ahnah is dragged away by a pack of bharghests (wolf like critters) to be eaten. The rest manage to make a quick getaway and return to Smedley's Square, and learn that due to the headcase outbreak all of Boston is now under quarantine lockdown.

Shadowrun: Redirection

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

After learning some hacking skills from Jane, Carol is next sent with the troll shaman Anjelica to plant some evidence at a corporate office. The robot guards prove resilient to Anjelica's magic, but less so to her summoned spirit bears.

The task really goes sideways when a random dragon decides to attack the city, causing the building alarms to go off and forcing the pair into an early escape. Smedley redirects them to a garage where they meet team mates Thunderb0lz, a silver haired drone operator, and Ahnah TwoCrows, an elf with an uzi, to steal an ambulance.

Getting the gang together.

With four people this easy job turns out to be just a warm up for the true heist. Disguised as EMTs , the squad heads through the panicked city to a stadium the dragon had attacked. Casualties and police are abundant, but apart from a cursory "don't go in there, it's still dangerous" no one stops them from entering the taped off building.

Shadowrun: The One that got Away

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

Accepting Carol's request, Smedley teams her up with the hacker, Jane and Al'sia, an elfin mage, to raid Dragonslayer controlled docks to find their leader, Luna. While Al'sia's magic is devastating to the guards, it has little effect on the automated turrets. Fortunately Jane takes care of all of those and hacks a computer that indicates Luna's location nearby.

Carol and Al'sia hoof it to the designated apartment building and after Al'sia bribes the janitor with some beer, the pair gain access to the power system - shutting off the lights and the automated defenses.

Jane is quick to comment.

They find Luna, a fat lady dressed as a clown, in conversation with her mage underling. Luna quickly teleports away while the underling uses mirror images to battle the pair of intruders. His tricks don't fool Carol though, and she carves him up with a machete. A minor victory but the big fish got away.

Shadowrun: Gainful Employment

[Part of the Shadowrun Chronicles.]

After the massacre at Glenchester, Carol Black had enough fuel and supplies from the marauders to leave the wasteland and reach Boston - a still standing hub of civilization and technology. It took some getting used to, especially with all the "new breeds" of people after the fallout.

Eventually requiring currency, she decided to try out for mercenary work for a demon looking fellow named Smedley. The trial of pushing back a rival gang called the "Dragonslayers" was an easy one, especially as she was teamed up with a shotgun wielding chick named Ratdoktor and Smedley's lieutenant, an ugly brute named Payday. He reminded her of all those marauder scum she killed to get here.

He's also the poster boy of the game.

With her performance approved by Payday, Smedley added Carol to his employee roster taking note of her one request to only be teamed up with females from now on.

Shadowrun Chronicles

Shadowrun Chronicles is an upgrade from Shadowrun Online plays much like XCOM, only set in the futuristic fantasy setting of Shadowrun where creatures like elves and dragons exist along side technology such as cars, machine guns and robots. It's also prime ground for story material so without further ado...

Chapter 01 - Gainful Employment
Chapter 02 - The One that got Away 
Chapter 03 - Redirection
Chapter 04 - Boston Lockdown
Chapter 05 - Blood Harvest
Chapter 06 - Ninja Magic
Chapter 07 - No Escape
Chapter 08 - Property Defense
Chapter 09 - No Appointment
Chapter 10 - Special Delivery
Chapter 11 - Carol's Company
Chapter 12 - Weaponized Malware
Chapter 13 - New Age Spam
Chapter 14 - What Doesn't Kill You
Chapter 15 - Left for Dead
Chapter 16 - Whole

This story has concluded for now! Thanks for reading!

Megalo Box

Punching for greatness!

Even when boxing incorporates mechanized exoskeletal arms on its participants, match fixing is still rife and protagonist Junk Dog finds himself stuck in a loop of taking dives to live from paycheck to paycheck.

Every episode title has something to do with death.

This changes when he happens to run into the Megalo Boxing champion, igniting not just a rivalry but a burning desire in Junk Dog to defeat this opponent on the championship stage.

It's a good underdog series with decent characters, character growth (except for the main guy ironically), story line and boxing action with high quality art in a style reminiscent of Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop. I quite enjoyed this one, but somehow feel "more" could have been done. If you are looking for an action anime with less sword and sorcery put this one on your list.

Split (2016)

People with problems are better than those without.

In this M. Night Shyamalan thriller, a group of girls are abducted by a kidnapper with a multiple personality disorder. This serves as a fantastic vehicle for James McAvoy to show off his range of acting talent. Everyone else was good too, it's just he literally had ... 9(?) roles to fill.

It also helps that the script and cinematography are spot on, though I did find it funny how there always seemed to be an excuse to keep making the girls slowly undress as the film went along (but hey, it turned out to be important)!

Many personalities, many faces.

Not something I thought I'd enjoy, but it's now something I'd probably watch again and can recommend it to people who like thrillers, or movies like Unbreakable. I give it 3 windows out of 5.

Sniper Elite 4

Italy is a beautiful place... to kill Nazis.

I haven't played much of the Sniper Elite series, but this one is definitely the best that I have. The graphics and locales are fantastic, and making each mission a huge open map where you can go do your objectives in any order you want and get by (or annihilate) all the soldiers and vehicles is inspired.

Of course, if you play on the easiest mode and only go for the main tasks you'll probably breeze through this in an afternoon. Play how I did on "Authentic" where you need to take into account wind and bullet drop and you'll probably take a (slightly) more stealthy approach.

There are many places that deserve sight seeing.

While predictable, the enemy AI is decent and good at flanking, and almost all locales have more than one flanking position. This is where all those wonderful traps come in. Rig it just right so that people sneaking up on you take themselves out. Explosive kill cams are just as good as the bullet variety.

That's the main meat of the game, and it is delicious. The sides are less so however with some average voice acting and an almost ridiculous plot. Still a very fun experience and one I recommend for stealth shooter fans. I give it 4 testicle shots out of 5.

October 2018 Status

I was strangely productive last month. Hopefully that's continues through October! Started my daily walking again, with the vague intention of piling on more exercise at some point. Yeah, "some point". Outside of that I'm trying not to add anything else to these at least until the end of the year. Hopefully that gives me a fighting chance of clearing the lot!

    End the year with less weight (-2 kg from last month, running total: -3.9 kg)
    Draw 12 drawings of anything (8/12)
    Make board game prototype (G19 planning - back to Fantasy)
    Complete web comic chapter 1 (storyboarding)
    Clean out wardrobe (no progress)

Backlog Update:

FROM GIFTS (or freebies)
Sims 3
Hand of Fate 2 (done)
Sniper Elite 4 (done)
Battletech (done)

Board games:
Witcher board game redemption trial
Finish Tomb of Annihilation (done)
Finish Mice and Mystics
Play more Pandemic Iberia (done)
Play more Zombicide: Black Plague
+Play Zombie in my Pocket
+Play London Dread
+Play Adamastor

Hand of Fate 2

It differentiates between completion and mastery.

The Dealer is back in this amazingly crafted sequel from the first game. While most of the mechanics regarding the cards remain the same, there are more variations of mini games this time around - all of which are both fun and frustrating.

You also get more hero customization options and companions now among a whole slew of new cards to unlock and discover. The strongest point for me is still the Dealer and his amazing lines. A close second is the story and the way it unfolds, though you might not get to appreciate that if you don't finish it.

Repetitiveness and the feeling that you aren't progressing is a major one in the mid-late game, especially with challenges that seem insurmountable. A curse filled quest and one where you must outwit a devil come to mind. At that stage you cannot rely on the auto-fill deck, and must be willing to go and select the cards that will best aid you in that challenge.

Companion allies add extra fun!

I also note that there is a difference between completion and mastery. I "completed" the game, but not "mastered" all the challenges. An early example is a quest to visit a high priestess. Reaching her and surviving completes the quest. Reaching her with 12 blessing and surviving earns you mastery, which unlocks even more cards.

Apart from that valley of depression before I realized I had to build my own decks to progress, I found this game very entertaining! Definitely a step up from the original, but also a step up in difficulty. Highly recommended, I give it 4.8 thieving goblins out of 5.