Hades game

(Accidentally posted on the game’s five years anniversary. The Fates willed it.)

Late to the party as usual, I discovered this brilliant gem of a game just as its sequel is about to be released. Hades charmed me every which way. First and foremost with the unbelievable quality and quantity of content; the care put into every little detail; the ingenuity of Greek mythology adaptation; the flawless writing and acting; the art; the music; and last but definitely not least, the rich queer representation.

Devoured by Baldur’s Gate 3

What it says on the label, darlings. I picked up BG3 in the first week of September and haven’t been able to drop it for more than a couple hours at a time since. It so happened that I was kind of bed-ridden in this period due to trivial but annoying illness, allowing me unprecedented levels of unchecked obsessing. And here I am, at last, to tell you all about it. (The obsession, not the actual game. Shocking, I know.)

Metal Hellsinger

This game has been an absolute delight. It’s a rhythm-based first-person shooter where you play a demon-like creature wrecking havoc though the circles of hell in search of her lost voice. The rhythm-based part means that you’re supposed to shoot (or otherwise hit) enemies, reload your weapons, jump and dash to the beat of the music. This is not only great fun, it’s also built into the mechanics. Following the rhythm helps build up the fury level, and two good things happen when it gets high: you deal more damage, and you get to hear more elements of the music arrangements.

Darksiders, my new obsession

I am here today to divulge, in gratuitous detail, my unexpected obsession with Darksiders. Although I’ve known of this franchise a long while, and even sought out soundtracks and the like in the past, it has only been now, with Darksiders Genesis, that I found myself attracted to the setting and the characters, thanks to the amazing bromance between the protagonists, War and Strife, who can be played together in coop multiplayer.

Warning: spoilers abound.

A No Humans AU

During my many years in the Mass Effect fandom, I’ve seen many fanfiction authors embrace the “No Reapers AU”, where AU stands for Alternate Universe, marking a departure from canon large enough to affect the entire setting. This may be done for a number of different reasons. The author may dislike the notion of the Reapers and the save-the-world narrative framework; they might want to distance themselves from themes such as indoctrination or ignore the existence of factions like Cerberus; from Shepard as the protagonist and their tired hero’s journey; last but definitely not least, this might be the means to keep favorite characters, like Saren and Nihlus, alive past the timeline of the first game. This comes at the price of effectively deleting much of the official content and usually requires supplementing it with much of one’s own world-building.

Needless to say, all sorts of AUs are possible and “No Reapers” is only an example.

Well, lately I’ve been thinking about a “No Humans AU”.

A New Home for Themed Challenges and Halls of Fame – Redux

Five years after I wrote a post with the same title, announcing the move of the community archives of recorded Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer games from their original abode on the Bioware Social Network forums (that were being shut down at the time) to a dedicated website at www.prestaciouschallenges.com, I made my old dream come true and turned those archives into an online database accessible through a website of my own making at mehof.smehur.com.

This project has taken me over half a year (and counting) of daily work, fueled in equal parts by the intractable passion for programming and the undying fandom zeal, and laced with so much fun that I’m sure to remember it fondly forever. I’m so very glad and proud that it’s finally live (although it’s still not 100% done).