Down Under - Crash Bandicoot (PS4) - Part 2

Our adventures in the Down Under continue, as we try to save our girlfriend(?) from an evil scientist. Also, we're a mutated bandicoot going up against mechanical sentries and other mutant animals.

Join us as we traverse old ruins, cross treacherous bridges, and fumble in the dark, and climb the castle walls. This is Crash Bandicoot.

#124: Death Stranding's Relationship with Manifest Destiny

I'm sure by the time you're reading this, you've probably already gotten tired of the discourse surrounding Death Stranding. Such seems to be the story with most of the people I know, even ones who like it. And yet, as I was trekking along the snowy peaks surrounding Mountain Knot City, an insidious though began to creep into my mind, one that I couldn't shake even as I began to reach the end of the game.

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic America where the barriers between the human world and the afterlife are worn thin, Death Stranding has the player assume the role of Sam Porter Bridges, a courier working for Bridges, a subsidiary of the United Cities of America (UCA). His objective, set forth by Acting President Samantha America “Amelie” Strand, is to travel westward, starting from Capital Knot City in the east, to annex the various cities and shelters across the remnants of the old country in order to “make us whole”. As a student of United States history, this began to draw parallels to the real life doctrine of Manifest Destiny.

Making Magic in the Arena - Golgari Adventures

Once more, we return to the Arena, but our creatures have other plans. While some are just fine being summoned to the field, others would rather spend their time on their own adventures and misadventures first.

Suits me just fine, because my Golgari Adventures deck is set to make the most of their pioneering spirit.

Check out the decklist from MTGGoldfish.

Down Under - Crash Bandicoot (PS4) - Part 1

With the dragons rescued, and the Dragon Realms are at peace for a time. So for now, Spyro and Sparx deserve a much needed rest.

Let us set our sights somewhere else... like the Australian outback. There, a mad scientist duo is hatching a plan for world domination via an army of mutated animals. One experiment went wrong, and that may just be the one that brings their whole plan crumbling down.

We're going Down Under with Crash Bandicoot.

Dragon Daddies - Spyro the Dragon (PS4) - Finale

At last, we have arrived at the end of our quest, and every Dragon Daddy has been rescued from their crystal prison. And after a tense, thrilling, and difficult fight against Gnasty Gnorc, we save the day.

But more than that, we managed to find Gnasty's secret meme collection. No, this is not a joke.

Dragon Daddies - Spyro the Dragon (PS4) - Part 2

The adventure continues! Fresh from our training in the Peace Keepers world, we collect treasure, defeated egg-stealing thieves, and more importantly...

...rescue hot dragon daddies.

The Disappointments of 2019

While there were many excellent games that game out over the past year, not every one of them lives up. We've got through my list of Highlights for the year, and just as always we too must go through the disappointments of the year in kind.

Every year, I usually find at least one or two games that end up on both lists for different reasons. In compiling this year's collection, I noticed that this happened with far, far more games than usual, for a variety of different reasons.

As usual, just because a game appears on this list doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. All it means is that there are significant aspects of it that I feel detract from the overall whole. Further, this list is presented in a completely random order.

Without further ado, the disappointments of 2019 are:

Tower Climb - Slay the Spire - Run 2

I've gotten a little down on MTG: Arena lately, so I needed to inject some variety into my Wednesday streams.

And what better salve for that is there than a session of Slay the Spire. This time, we'll play as the Ironclad.

Making Magic in the Arena - Simic Flash (Eldraine)

In Magic the Gathering, one of the smartest things one can do is wait until the last possible second to make a move. By being patience, and playing reactively, we can give ourselves the freedom to amend our plans as the situation changes. In addition, we ensure that our spells and abilities are played at the point where they are most effective.

For this reason, I opted to go back to Simic Flash once more. We played this deck once during the Core 2020 season, and though we lost some cards in the rotation to Eldraine, we also gained enough new tricks that the strategy is still viable.

You can check out the decklist here.

The Highlights of 2019

At last, it is once again that time. That time where we look back fondly or otherwise, at the games that have been released this year. Every outlet in games media will soon be consumed by hours upon hours of Game of the Year deliberations, top 10 lists, and other assorted recaps.

I am no different, of course. That said, when I look back at the list of games I've played this year, I noticed that it was quite unique compared to most other years. While there wasn't much in terms of big budget games, the number of niche, mid-tier titles that cater to specific interests really added up to be a profound year. I almost always had something new and neat to play.

Just like in previous years, these are just games I have many positive things to say about, in randomized order. Even if a game misses this list, it doesn't mean I didn't like it. Odds are I have nothing much to say on it or just didn't get around to it. With that said, the first of my 2019 highlights is:

Dragon Daddies - Spyro the Dragon (PS4) - Part 1

Sir Daniel Fortesque has, at long last, defeated Zarok, resting in the eternal piece of his crypt. For us, that means it's time to move onto a new adventure.

What better excuse than this would there be to go back to an old, nostalgic game from the PlayStation, and my childhood. A game that I have replayed time and time again, and was remastered for newer consoles merely one year ago.

It's time to meet hot Dragon Daddies in the Dragon Realms, for we're playing Spyro the Dragon.

Making Magic in the Arena - Jund Junk Food

In this post-Oko standard, it's tempting to believe that Food is going the way of the dodo bird. After all, he was one of, if not the, most important card in the Simic/Sultai/Bant Food decks. However, there appears to be another formula out there for the archetype that has started to make the rounds.

Say goodbye to Oko Food... and hello to Jund Food.

The decklist I'm using comes from MTGGoldfish, but I swapped out a copy of Korvold, Fae-Cursed King for the extra Massacre Girl in the sideboard.

You're All Bones - Medievil (PS4) - Finale

At last, we have finished our great quest. The Kingdom of Gallowmere is safe from the evil clutches of Zarok and his undead army. Despite living life as a charlatan and fraud, utter incapable of defending himself, let alone his realm, Sir Daniel Fortesque has finally "lived" up to the legend, accomplishing in death what he failed to do in life.

Join us in recounting once more the ending of this epic adventure.

Making Magic in the Arena - Azorius Control

Standard has been broken wide open. With Oko, Thief of Crowns, Once Upon a Time, and Veil of Summer sitting comfortably on the ban list, half of the top tier competitive decks have been obliterated overnight and the field is wide open for new strategies to take over.

My plan was to bite the bullet and play Sultai Food prior to the announcement. Now that the bannings have taken effect, I figured now is the best time to give an old-school Azorius Control deck a shot. It might not seem novel, but when Veil of Summer was legal, counterspells were impossible to run, completely eliminating the strategy.

Let's see how well we do with this decklist from MTGGoldfish.

You're All Bones - Medievil (PS4) - Part 3

Our bonely friend Sir Daniel Fortesque needs our help in his quest to rid the Kingdom of Gallowmere of the evil sorcerer Zarok. And as valiant heroes in our own right, who are we to refuse the call?

And where we are, things are looking positively eldritch.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Two Quick Rounds with Grismold and Mirri

Last night's EDH session was a short, but sweet one. While 2 of our number couldn't make it due to illness and prior obligations respectively, the remaining three of us had enough time to get in two matches that left me feeling satisfied by the end of it.

The first match had me bring a new Voltron/Token/Aristocrats-y deck I built, based on Grismold, the Dreadsower, after seeing it perform during the game against Hapatra from last week. My opponents were Zada, Hedron Grinder and my friend's Uzra, Lord High Artificer deck we affectionately call "Swordbot".

Making Magic in the Arena - Esper Dance

It's been a while since we've stepped foot into the Arena, and it's looking less like a place to do battle and more like a ballroom. Then again, I suppose a duel can be thought of like a dance, both contestants moving to their own rhythm.

Join me for a tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme... Dance of the Manse.

That's right. We're in Esper colors, and having a ball.


You can find the decklist here.

You're All Bones! - Medievil (PS4) - Part 2

Sir Daniel, why are you turning all of your enemies into Roast Chicken!? Oh wait, it's because you're all bones!

Today, in our journey across Gallowmere, we encounter several powerful foes on our way through some of the best and worst Zarok has to offer.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Esper Colors Represent!

For this week, one of our playgroup couldn't attend due to personal business that needed tending to. When factored in with the schedules of a few of our other members, it was a night of tons of 3-player games.

It was an interesting change of pace, quite literally. The accelerated speed of our games meant we got more rounds in than usual. And also, by sheer coincidence, the two decks that I bought to bear this session also happened to be in Esper colors.

You're All Bones! - MediEvil (PS4) - Part 1

Though the spooky season has wound down, there's still plenty of time for Fall Frights. In that spirit, I feel it is appropriate to play a game that Sony has opted to resurrect from my childhood. While not the best, it was a franchise that heavily appealed to me in many ways.

Let us join my friend, Sir Daniel Fortesque on his quest to save Gallowmere in the 2019 remake of MediEvil.



(This is a remake of a game I wrote about years ago, in case you were interested.)

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Elsha Plays Tops and Marisi Flops

It's another weekend, and another exciting session of commander with my table. Going with neither tutors nor budget has been working wonders for the table, with everyone having a noticeably better time than they were previously. Without the added consistency of tutors, the threat level has evened out.

This week, we managed to get a solid 4 rounds at the table, with a healthy mix of colors in each matchup.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - How to Make Friends with Nekusar

After our rounds of Commander a few weeks back, where one of friends brought in a Locust God deck, I was hit by a bolt of inspiration. I thought to myself, "Why should only one person draw all of those cards? It's only fair that everyone draws all of those extra cards." And as a good friend to the people of my table, I took the only logical course of action: Building a deck based on Nekusar, the Mindrazer.

What follows is a chronicle of friendship and camaraderie that Nekusar was happy to facilitate.

The Dark Duo - Man of Medan - Part 2

Our perils within the Qurang Medan conclude as Acharky and I guide these intrepid young souls along the path as best we can.

But were we able to keep all of them alive, or did tragedy strike as it does it so many adventures. Find out as The Dark Duo plays... Man of Medan!

Making Magic in the Arena - Jeskai Wishing Flames

Once more we find ourselves returning to Arena with a new deck in tow.

This time, we're packing one of my favorite builds yet. While it's certainly powerful, probably one of the top decks around in the current meta, the reason I like it is that it allows for a bigger, higher costs cards to see play in Standard, all at the same time, without being too unwieldy.

Welcome to Jeskai Wishing Flames. The decklist can be found here, with the difference that I replaced Chance for Glory with Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God in the sideboard.

The Dark Duo - Man of Medan - Part 1

It's that time of the year, where monsters, ghosts, and all forms of terrors begin to stalk the night and prey upon us mortals. And amidst all of that horror, some of us can undergo changes of our own.

Once upon a time, we were considered heroes. They called us "The Marvelous Duo". But that don't think we're so Marvelous anymore. We've seen things that have changed us, made us rethink our way of life.

The Marvelous Duo is dead: Long live the Dark Duo. Such is our fate, to lead five unsuspecting rubes in a game of life and death. We, along with the Curator of Stories, will be telling the tale of the Man of Medan, the first part of The Dark Pictures Anthology.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Ladies' Night with Yuriko and Teysa

With another Saturday night, my Commander playgroup go together to run another play session, and this time we managed to get in two really solid games out of the three we played that night.

It seems like going tutorless has actually been a boon for our group, because we are starting to see a lot the play-space open a bit in a way we didn't really get with the $300 budget idea. If this week's matches were anything to go by, we're closing in on the right track.

Making Making in the Arena - Bant Lands

Eldraine, combined with the rotation, has done a lot to inject new blood into Standard. However, despite losing Scapeshift, one of the top decks is still going strong.

I never piloted in during the last season, but this season I figured it would be worth it to give Bant Lands a shot. So here we are, returning once more to the Arena to pilot a deck that I'm still very mixed on in terms of my opinion of it.

The Marvelous Duo - Ultimate Alliance 3 - Spoopy Expansion

What? Just because the game is over doesn't mean that we have to be done with it. And as long as new content continues to get added to Ultimate Alliance 3, The Marvelous Duo will perform our duty in playing it live on stream, to later be uploaded to YouTube.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Hard Won Lessons with Konrad and Korvold

In my playgroup, we've been trying and failing to reduce our overall power level to promote more diverse decks and playstyles. For the reason, when Bennie Smith, the guy who literally wrote the book on Commander, opened up for questions on the format, I asked him for advice on how a group and lower their power level.

On his advice, I proposed a change in our rules, doubly so since some players were growing annoyed at the $300 budget limitations. And so, we began another experiment. This time, we moved backed to an unlimited budget, but banning any cards that let players search their libraries for cards, except those cards like Cultivate and Rampant Growth that let players accelerate their land drops.

While I'd say the experiment is still being conducted, as one night isn't enough to give a definitive result, I learned some things in these games.

Making Making in the Arena - Golgari Midrange

A set has been unveiled: Throne of Eldraine had finally made it's way into the Arena. And with these new cards come new decks, and new strategies.

We're back in the Arena. This time, I have a deck built around two of the most obviously powerful cards that exist in Eldraine. A slight modification of an existing deck on MTGGoldfish, moving several sideboard cards in the main board to better survive the best-of-one queue.

This is Golgari Midrange.

The Marvelous Duo - Ultimate Alliance 3 - Finale(?)

After spending the first 15 minutes of the stream downloading an update that had been pushed just moments before we began, Acharky and I were finally able to commence the endgame in Ultimate Alliance 3. To pass a bit more time, we even take a moment post-game to discuss the Infinity Trials.

What awaits The Marvelous Duo after this? It's difficult to say, but don't think that our adventures have ended just because the game has.

Magic: the Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Marisi and Syr Konrad Suffer For My Sins

As we do most weeks, my pod got together for our regularly scheduled doses of EDH. Although we saw a few new cards from Eldraine make appearances last session with Rankle and Chulane, this week was where the new set started to make inroads and impacts on the game, with strategies that were enabled by some of the legendary creatures added to the set.

A Quick Run - Dead Cells

Since Wizards of the Coast had the sheer, brazen audacity to wait until the day after I stream to open up the Throne of Eldraine expansion on Arena, I had to find something else to fill the void. To that end, I decided it would be a good idea to run through another roguelike game that I've had a ton of fun with in my spare time: Dead Cells.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Gatewatch Oathbreaker and Scarab God Backbreaker

After having to cancel our Commander night for 2 weeks now due to scheduling conflicts, my playgroup was finally able to get together for a night of Magic: The Gathering.

But before we get to the EDH games, we started by doing an event that we had been planning for a while: Gatewatch Oathbreaker. For those unaware, Oathbreaker is a relatively new format where players build a singleton deck using a Planeswalker as a commander, and a signature spell for the Planeswalker.

The idea was simple, take all current and former members of the Gatewatch, and assign one at random to be the build-around for each player. Then, we'd just play an Oathbreaker game with the decks we built.

The Marvelous Duo - Ultimate Alliance 3 - Part 4

The Marvelous Duo finds ourselves in the jungles of Wakanda, on a hunt for the Winter Soldier and the Infinity Stone he took from MODOC. What perils await our two heroes, both Acharky and myself, and their Marvelous team!? Tune in and find out.

Tower Climb - Slay the Spire

I haven't thought up or seen any new deck tech in Magic Arena recently, so I've decided to take a break from it until Throne of Eldraine is released. The new set looks really interesting, and I've already started to get some ideas for directions I want to go.

With that in mind, I decided to play another card-based video game instead. As someone who plays a lot of roguelikes, I figured it was time to play Slay the Spire on camera.

Watch as I'm exposed as a fraud who can't play video games!

The Marvelous Duo Returns - Ultimate Alliance 3 - Part 3

It's another Marvelous recording session, as the Alliance grows stronger and stronger to stand against the impending threat of Thanos and his Black Order.

With Acharky by my side, there's nothing the two of us can't beat... as much as the game wants to beat us down.

Making Magic in the Arena - Eldraine Courtside Brawl

I had a deck planned to run for this latest Magic the Gathering: Arena, but on the day of recording there was an announcement that caused me to amend my plans. Although the next set, Throne of Eldraine, won't be released for another few weeks, the new Brawl Pre-constructed decks, and the Brawl format itself, would be playable in Arena as part of a special event.

And so, I decided to give these decks and format a try. Out of the 4 possible deck lists available for this event, I gave two of them a shot: The Wild Bounty deck helmed by Chulane, Teller of Tales and the Savage Hunter deck with Korvold, Fae-Cursed King leading it.

The Marvelous Duo Returns - Ultimate Alliance 3 - Part 2

Our adventures in the world of Marvel media continue, pushing through the worlds of the MCU, including the Netflix shows and the films that have become more popular than God.

Join us, The Marvelous Duo, consisting of Acharky and myself, as we fight the forces of evil with our favorite superheroes(?) from comic book canon.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Hapatra and Vaevictus Come Close, But No Cigar

For this weekend's Commander night at my playgroup, we decided to lift the restriction on budget so that we could play whatever cards we wanted to in our decks.

And in doing so, I was able to play a very special deck, and another one that I had been thinking about for quite some time. As a whole, the table had a blast and we may consider going budgetless more regularly again.

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Making Magic in the Arena - Mono-Blue Tempo

Once more, we return to the Arena with a new deck and new playstyle in tow. This time, we're rocking one of the best budget decks around: Mono-Blue Tempo.

Don't underestimate this deck. Despite the low price point, it's a machine that can really pack a punch in the hands of a skilled pilot.

The Marvelous Duo - Ultimate Alliance 3 - Part 1

A long time ago, in an age before THE QUIET MAN, Acharky and I used to stream together more frequently. Although the footage from those streams is long gone, we had a series we called "The Marvelous Duo", where we played through the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games together.

We thought after beating MUA2 that there would never be another game in the franchise. Much of both of our surprises and delights, a third game was announced, exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. Just as I was about to approach him to see if he had an interest in reviving our old series, he actually brought the subject up on his own.

Thus! THE MARVELOUS DUO HAS RETURNED!

Making Magic in the Arena - Orzhov Aristocrats

Magic players who know we personally know that I enjoy removing killing creatures and clearing boards of creatures. In my EDH playgroup, I'm known as the guy who tends to have the removal options needed to take out big threats.

But what I like even more than that is killing my own creatures and gaining benefits from their deaths. More commonly known as an Aristocrats strategy, it's a deck type that I've always found interesting, and that I love trying to build and pilot.

My decklist is here.

However, I was also credit Strictly Better MTG for this deck, because the fundamental core of it comes from his YouTube video where he discusses his version of the build. This may be my own spin on it, but I'd be wrong not to attribute him credit where it is due.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Werewolf Tribal and K'rrik in Style

Another Saturday night has passed, and that means my playgroup had another round of Commander together. This time, we managed to get in two games in. Though we probably could have gotten more in, had we not been too tired to continue, but it's pretty to go on a high note than force an exhausted person to keep playing.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Finale

At last, we arrived at the end of Cole Phelps's career as an LAPD detective and the game. With it, we fully uncover the extent of the conspiracy that's been unraveling ever since his fall from grace, into the cold, uncaring arms of the Arson desk.

Between him and his former comrade-in-arms, Jack Kelso, it seems all but assured that those responsible for the fires and murders will be brought to justice. How will they do it? With some good ol'-fashioned Detective Work, we'll find out.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Marchesa the Black Rose Theft Deck ($300 Budget)

Usually, in my Cockatrice Commander/EDH playgroup, we have a series of matches in which we run any number of different decks and play test out the new decks we've built over the week.

Last night though, we only had a single match that lasted about 2 hours. There were multiple reasons for this, which largely come down to the decks that were being run. In particular, I wanted to talk about my own deck, which was based on Marchesa, the Black Rose.

3 lines of text that go great together

Making Magic in the Arena - Temur Elemental Ramp

It's no secret that ever since Risen Reef was revealed in the new Core Set 2020, players have had their eye on Elementals as a tribe. As a 1/1 that either adds a card to our hand when it comes out, it would have already been a decent card. But the fact that other Elementals, including other copies of Risen Reef, also trigger the effect again, the potential is too real to pass up.

And so, with Omnath, Locus of the Roil giving us an obvious direction to go, we'll give the Temur color combo a try with this Elemental Ramp deck.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 9

And so it has finally come to this: Cole Phelps, on the pursuit of a conspiracy involving Arson, Murder, and good ol'-fashioned Hollywood grift to the tune of billions, has been completely shut out by the LAPD itself, corrupt as it is.

If he wishes to finally get to the truth, and expose this plot for what it is, he needs to cast aside old grudges and seek out the help of his old rival, Jack Kelso. Aside from DLC cases, Jack will take his rightful place as primary protagonist for most of the game from here on out.

Magic: The Gathering - Commander Night Playback - Commander 2019 Precons

As many of you may know, every Saturday night I play Commander with a few of my friends on Cockatrice. Normally, I take to Twitter to go through the decks I played with and won with, talking about some of the combos and big plays I performed.

However, this week is a bit different. Instead of our own decks, we played with the recently releases decklists for the pre-constructed Commander 2019 decks. Normally, we get in several games on Commander in a night, but this night only had time for a single game, since the one match we played lasted 3.5 hours.

With this in mind, I'll be going over my thoughts on each of the decks, and what big plays each of them performed. Further, the thread will be posted here as a blog post, rather than a tweet thread. I might just do that for future posts as well, but I'm undecided as of now.

Making Magic in the Arena - Sultai Reanimator

One of the best parts about this new Core Set 2020 is the way that it's opened up a ton of new possibility space for deck building in standard, to the point where I get to try new strategies that I've always wanted to, but could never get to work quite right.

This reanimator deck is one example. There haven't been many of either good resurrection targets, or spells in Standard while I've been playing. With the introduction of Core Set (and War of the Spark), there are enough of each that a viable deck can be built.

The decklist can be found here.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 8

After a long and arduous journey, Cole Phelps finally arrives at the Arson deck: The final desk of his career as an LAPD detective.

And with some solid Detective Work, we'll be able to help him through it.

Making Magic in the Arena - Simic Flash

When it comes to Magic: The Gathering, one of my favorite experiences is finding a silly concept that has enough support in the cards to become a competitively viable deck. Way back during in the days of the Closed Beta, the deck I played most was based on Muldrotha, the Gravetide. While not a competitive deck, it played well enough and gave me a ton of fun.

While this Simic Flash deck doesn't offer Muldrotha's sheer recursive power, it's in the similar vein of fun concepts that seem like they shouldn't work, but actually gels into a coherent package that can absolutely end games. On top of that, it fits the kind of reactive playstyle that normally gravitates me toward control decks like Esper and Grixis builds.

You check out the decklist here. Since this version is being used in best-of-one matches, I opted to ignore the sideboard, but the main deck is actually pretty cheap, consisting mostly of commons and uncommons (mana base aside).

My First Time Playing Warframe

Out of the blue, a few weeks back, I got a message from an old friend from high school. After talking with him for a bit, I agreed to join him and a friend of his for a one-off game session. When he said he wanted to play Warframe, I was intrigued.

Several other people I know are head-over-heels in love with the game, and I figured I'd give it a shot to see if it was something I might be into. And, of course, I streamed it for everyone to see.

#123: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and My Transformation Into a Monster

If you've ever had a conversation with me regarding The Elder Scrolls series, you'll know that my favorite game in it is Oblivion. I think it has some of the best quest design in modern RPGs, and still plays well today, even if its visuals are dated. Since I had some spare time over the summer, I decided it would be a good idea to download the PC copy I purchased years ago and replay the game. Unlike my previous runs, which have always been on PS3 since that's all I had at the time, I went in with the benefits of mods.

Among the various mods I downloaded was the Curse of Hircine mod, which appealed to me for two reasons. For one, it offered a brand new way to play the game, under a set of conditions I am not used to. And on top of that, I am furry trash who relishes in the idea of transforming into a big, strong werewolf. However, not even I would have been able to predict the end result from installing one, single mod. What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the darkness, embracing the animal my character had become.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 7

Despite having one of the worst, most corrupt partners in the entire LAPD, we join detective Cole Phelps in attempting to crack down on corrupt drug trade.

But no crime can escape us so long as we're to do a bit of Detective Work - LA Noire.

Making Magic in the Arena - Bolas Control

Core Set 2020 has finally dropped in Magic Arena, and new decks are being developed as I write this. However, as I'm coming back from AnthroCon, I didn't have much time to build a new construct of my own.

So let's run a favorite deck of mine, Grixis Control, and see what new strategies people have come up with in the downtime. You can find the deck I piloted here, if you're interested. (I can't take credit for it.)

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 6

Our adventures in the seedy underbelly of LA continue as we throw our lot in with one of the most corrupt cops in town. It's up to us to bring some professionalism to this relationship as we perform... Detective Work.

Hitman 2 - Expansion Pass Mission - Bank

I'm always eager for another reason to reinstall and open up Hitman 2 again, and a new level seemed like the perfect excuse. Even better, turns out that new level continues directly off of the campaign from the base game, so let's get right to it.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 5

At last, we finally complete the Homicide desk in this episode, resolving the lingering plot threads and arriving at the end of this long, tiresome road.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target - The Deceivers

It's been a while since we last saw everyone's favorite murder-comedian. And yet, here we are with another Elusive Target.

Watch me execute another perfect, flawless hit where I only kill the necessary targets.

Magic Making in the Arena - Esper Hero

Another session in the arena, and another deck type too try out. This time, we pilot another variant of the Esper deck: Esper Hero.

You can find the decklist here.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 4

Our exploits at the Homicide desk continue as we investigate the Black Dhal.... I mean, we investigate a series of random, completely unrelated murders that all just happen to have very similar MOs.



There are two things that truly hold the Homicide desk back, aside from the fact that your partner is just one or the worst people.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 3

Cole Phelps (Badge One-Two-Four-Seven) has finally graduated from the machinations and diverse plots of the Traffic desk and onto the grim, yet fulfilling work of a Homicide Detective.

Unfortunately, it's the worst desk in the entire game, and with the second worst partner: Rusty Galloway.



The problems with Homicide will become more evident later on, but for now take my word that the arc for the desk is unsatisfying.

Making Magic in the Arena - Esper Control

Since the Elusive Target didn't take anywhere near as long as I anticipated, I opted to stream some Magic Arena for another hour or so.

So what better time than now to play what appears to be the best deck in Standard: Esper Control.

The deck can be found here.



Versions of this deck have been around ever since Domanaria, thanks to Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. That card is the backbone of the deck, and the win condition. The end goal is to play him, and eventually get to his -8 ultimate. From there, his -3 can shuffle himself back into the deck so that his owner will never deck out, as the opponent slowly withers away while their permanents and lands get exiled.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target - The Undying Returns

After a miraculous recovery from the mysterious poison that nearly claimed his life, I regret to inform you once again that critically acclaimed actor Seam Bean has passed away.



I won't deny that I was somewhat disappointed about how this mission was a near exact duplication of the very first Elusive Target against The Undying.

I hope that this is the setup for a remixed third target that does something to surprise players. but I don't have much more to add beyond that.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 2

Our work on the mean streets of 50s LA continues. As Traffic Detective Cole Phelps (Badge Twelve-Fourty-Seven), we're forging a reputation with each new case we crack. The bigger our exploits, the easier it will be to climb through the rankings.

This is Detective Work: LA Noire.



To clarify points made in the video, while Rockstar published this game, it was developed by Team Bondi in Australia. That said, there are a number of design choices we see in LA Noire that a typical of Rockstar games, so I feel it's still worth talking about them.

Detective Work - LA Noire - Part 1

Lately, thanks to my own personal run of the Ace Attorney games, I've had police procedurals on the brain. Though not a detective game in the strictest sense, I was hoping that streaming The Council would help to satisfy that itch.

Turns out I was wrong. As interesting as it was mechanically, The Council doesn't have much to offer in terms of notable content beyond that initial conversation piece. Thus, it behooves me to move onto a game I know I have much to say about.

Welcome to LA Noire!



LA Noire is a game I have decidedly mixed feelings about. On one hand, I'm a sucker for detective fiction, and it's a very polished example of that. On the other hand, there are a number of problems I have both with the game and the circumstances surrounding it's development. We'll get more into it as we proceed, but this episode lays the groundwork for future discussion.

Making Magic in the Arena - War of the Spark Draft

Since I attended the pre-release for War of the Spark, I received a free coupon for a Tradition Draft in Magic Arena. Now, while I already spent that coupon, I did well enough in the free draft that I earned enough gems to cover another attempt.

So I figured, why not do this draft on stream, to show off my limited skill in... Limited.

Tea and Crumpets - The Council - Episode 1

Now that The Spooky Bois have finished our adventures in Raccoon City, it is time to begin a new journey.

Welcome to the Manor, as we enter a world of mystery and intrigue. At a pivotal moment in history, world leaders from George Washington to Napoleon Bonaparte gathered in the remote island estate of a mysterious host. The choices made will have impacts the world over, and we'll be right in the middle of it.

Will you join us at The Council... for Tea and Crumpets?

#122: Sekiro: The Accessibility Discussion

I'm sure most of the people reading this are already sick to death of “The Discourse”(tm) surrounding Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Many people have already weighed in, with voices smarter and more well-researched than mine, yet I can't bring myself to let this one go. We don't talk enough about accessibility in gaming, and Sekiro is one of the greatest jumping off points to start delving into the topic: How important it is and what game designers can do to reduce the barriers of entry for the games they make.

Adventures of the Pride - Sea of Thieves - Part 2

Join us for another exciting tale of pirates and plunder upon the high-seas. I, Mr. Doucet, and Mr. Davenport have experienced so many wonders that it's hard to say where to begin, but our story is one of the ages.

This is the most free ship you'll ever set foot one. With great pleasure, I would like to welcome you aboard our vessel: The Pride, named after it's signature Rainbow Flag.

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Finale

After braving all of horrors of Raccoon City, we have finally reached the end of our long journey. Thanks again to David and Clayton for joining me for this, because it would have definitely turned out a lot worse without them.

#121: Sekiro: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Deflect

As a fan of From Software's most recent works, from Demon's Souls to Dark Souls 3, I was honor-bound to play Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice the moment it was released. Going in, I felt prepared for another exciting adventure in an environment that would do everything it could to kill me. With how easily I breezed through the third Dark Souls game, I thought that there was nothing From could do to surprise or intimidate me. They must be running out of tricks, so I would be wise to whatever they threw my way. Many of my friends thought the same way, to the game's, the developer's, and our own collective disservice.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 6 (And Contracts) - Javascript Sucks

This Elusive Target might be Deja Vu for some of you. Unlike the previous Hitman 2 ETs, this is a "Legacy Target". In other words, the brought this one back from the 2016 game to give players another opportunity to take them out.

So let us work together to take out "The Protagonist". And afterwards, let's look at some player made Contracts.

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Part 6

Here it is, guys. Multiple people have told me that this is the worst section of the game, and together David, Clayton and I will begin to explore the Sewer section with Ada Wong.

Of course, we have to bust out of the police station first before we can even think about that, but that shouldn't be too hard.

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Part 5

We've seen Claire Redfield's adventures. We witnessed as she braved the zombie hoards, along with so many other untold horrors, to protect and save a young Sherry Berkin from the virus her father unleashed...

...but there are two heroes to this story. What happened to a young Leon S. Kennedy on his first day on the Raccoon City police force while Claire was braving the zombie hoards?

This is Another Side, Another Story. Join us as The Spooky Bois play Leon - Route B.

Streamers May Cry - Devil May Cry 5 Full Spoilercast

Devil May Cry 5 has been out for quite a few weeks now, and by now there's been enough time for most players to complete the story and start on some of the higher difficulties.

With that in mind, I requested a few of my friends, ZeroAsher (Sam) and AShadowLink (Matt), join me for a discussion about the game in its totality.

That's right: This is a full spoiler, comprehensive run down on our combined thoughts every single aspect of Devil May Cry 5. From the story to the casts and the gameplay, everything is fair game.

I apologize for the poor audio mixing for the first part of this recording. Once we were made aware, it was addressed.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 5 - Useless Disguise

Another Elusive Target has appeared, this time in the small but dense area of Hawke's Bay in New Zealand.

Question is: Does the streak continue, or is this where I finally fall flat?

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Part 4

At with this, our time with Claire comes to an end. Despite a number of close calls, we ended with plenty of ammo and healing items to spare.

Next time, we'll start Leon - Route B.

Apex Legends - 3/6/2019 - My Beautiful Gay Boi!

Another day, another adventure in King's Canyon.

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Part 3

Despite all the trouble Discord's outage caused, we still managed to get together and continue our adventures in Resident Evil 2.

This time, we traverse the dreaded sewers. I was told to that this is one of the toughest areas in the game, so I was a bit nervous.

Making Magic in the Arena - Mardu Aristocrats

I've been playing Magic the Gathering: Arena on and off for quite a long time now, but it only recently occurred to me to post the matches to YouTube. I want to try to start showing off some of the decks I'm building. Even if they aren't the best, I think there's some good fun to be had there.

First off, a deck I've wanted to try for a long time, but never had the pieces for it in one Standard environment until now: Mardu Aristocrats.

Adventures of the Pride - Sea of Thieves

I didn't think I would play much of Sea of Thieves when I gave it a go using my free trial of Microsoft's game pass. Though I enjoyed my time with it then, I anticipated setting it aside like a do with so many other games.

And yet, here I am, getting a group together to explore the high seas: Digging for treasure and combating the undead hoards of those who came before us and failed in their own journeys.

Welcome aboard The Pride. Let us regale you with a tale of magnificent adventures.

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Part 2

Our adventures in Resident Evil 2 continue. This is... The Spooky Bois!

Apex Legends - 2/14/2019 - MOZAMBIQUE HERE!

I don't talk about them very often here, but I've put a fair amount of time into both Player Unknown's Battle Grounds (aka PUBG), and Fortnite. When I heard that Respawn has come out with their own version of a battle royale game, set in the Titanfall universe, and that it was free, I simply had to try it out.

But more than that, I had to get some friends of mine together and do it on stream. Here is the result.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 4 - Bumpkin is a Slur (and Sniper Assassin)

Another month, another Elusive Target, thought this time I'm not alone. My friend Andre Doucet is with me this time, as we tackle The Fugitive.

Resident Evil 2 - The Spooky Bois - Part 1

While I feel confident in my ability to play a horror game without aid from another human being, but it would be criminal of me to not invite my friend David, a Resident Evil expert, to join me on the journey.

And Clayton also pitched in. Together, we are... The Spooky Bois.

The Shapeshifting Detective - Part 2/2

Picking up where we last left off, we wrap up our adventures with The Shapeshifting Detective. Were we able to successfully save Ellis Munro from certain death? And were we able to catch the killer and solve the murder of Dorota Shaw? Tune in to find out!

And remember, if you wish to see content like this as it's recorded live, be sure to check out my Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/newdarkcloud

Hitman 2 - Snow Festival - That... Happened

Along with the new Elusive Target, IO also included a new mission in Hokkaido to celebrate the upcoming Snow Festival in Japan.

The prizes for this one include a new melee weapon and a new suit, so you better believe I took the time to give it chance.

If you wish to watch content like this as it's recorded live, be sure to follow me on Twitch.

Alpha Protocol - Closure Alert - Finale

We've waited over 5 years this. At long last, a project I didn't think would ever get finished... is complete.

Hitman 2 - Elusive Target 3 - Get Smoked

Another Elusive Target, another chance to show off my stuff. This time, we return to the Isle of Sgail to assassinate... "The Appraiser"!

If you wish to watch content like this as it's recorded live, be sure to follow me on Twitch.

The Shapeshifting Detective - Part 1

Over the past few years, there has been an upsurge in FMV games. Though they aren't as big as they were back in the old days, they've begun to carve out a comfortable niche.

The Shapeshifting Detective takes many cues (and a few of the actors) from 2015's Contradiction: Spot the Liar, and adds in a few new, cool ideas to form a compelling murder mystery experience.

Alpha Protocol - Closure Alert - Part 8

And with that, our adventures in Rome have come to a close and we've hit the endgame. This is exactly as far as Aldowyn, anaphysik, and I were able to progress before Disclosure Alert met its untimely demise at the hands of our various schedules.

Thanks to streaming and post-production laziness, we're now in a place where crossing the finish line is no longer an impossible task.

If you wish to view content like this as it's recorded live, be sure to follow me on Twitch.

Alpha Protocol - Closure Alert - Part 7

Y'know what they say, when in Rome, do everything you can to viciously antagonize an old man, waste a poor fool running a gelato shop, and knock out a bunch of CIA agents.

Wait. What?

If you wish to see content like this as it's recorded live, be sure to check out my Twitch channel and subscribe.

Hitman 2 - Improvisation Run - Finale - Isle of Sgail

And here we are, at the Grand Finale. Despite a rocky start, I'm extraordinarily proud of both of this mission and the run as a whole.