Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2: Loose Cannon review

    VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE: BLOODLINES 2 is a game that I very much enjoyed but has also been panned as a major downgrade from its predecessor. The behind-the-scenes shows that once it got cancelled the first time, that was always going to be the case. One element that is interesting is that the season pass would originally introduce two new clans but after fan outrage, ended up being used for DLC about minor characters: Benny Muldoon and Ysabella Moore.

    These are odd choices for the protagonists because both of them are villains in the campaign and genuine scumbags no less. Benny Muldoon is a corrupt cop and the Sheriff of Seattle that has ditched his current duties in order to hunt down Thin Bloods. Thin Bloods being those vampires who are so weak they might as well be human.

    I just finished my playthrough of LOOSE CANNON and I am torn on my opinion because it's extremely good content...for while it lasts. Benny Muldoon was not a character that I particularly wanted to revisit because he's a Thin Blood hating scumbag psychopath with all the depth of a puddle. I wanted more Phyre and Fabien with possibly some of the game's lost content being restored but I always secretly knew that was never going to happen. If they were going to hire voice actors or other people then they would have done it for the original announcement of the DLC to replace the cordoned off Clans.

    Still, I have to say this is probably some of the best content for V:TM:B2. Benny has a quality about him that separates him from 90% of Bloodlines 2's NPCs: he's actually interesting and has a distinct personality. Benny hates the courts, hates Thin Bloods, and loves his sire but while this isn't much of a personality, it's more than most of Seattle's Kindred. We get to see his promotion to Sheriff, his reaction to Campbell's death, and what events led him to being recruited into the Sabbat.

    The gameplay is really the biggest benefit, though, because Benny can use melee weapons and has a gun that compensates for his lack of telekinesis. Only having the Brujah tree of powers also makes the character challenges more difficult. The ability to use melee weapons is also something that carries over to the main game. Plus, you can reload Benny's gun with the bullets of the Anarchs you kill. I suspect the Toreador DLC will add the ability to use every variety of gun.

    We honestly don't learn that much about Benny from the DLC and most of what we do learn could be inferred from the main game. Even so, it does give a different perspective to Phyre's rampage through the city and implies that the police think something absolutely massive is occurring (and is).

    The problem with the game is that it is still blindingly short. I finished it at about an hour and a half with no real ability to expand beyond that. You slaughter a bunch of Thin Bloods and Sabbat with a decent boss fight against a Lasombra before it's over. Is it work 15 dollars? I don't know, really, but the improvements to the main game are probably the real benefit to buying this DLC. Still, it wasn't boring and I appreciated that.

7/10

Writing Plans for 2026

My current plans for books in progress:

1. VILLAINS OUT SHOPPING (short story collection - Done) 
2. CTHULHU's CANYON
3. WORLD'S WORST SUPERHERO 
4. GODS OF SUPERVILLAINY 
5. The final Predestiny book
6. SPACE ACADEMY TEACHERS

 

I have two World of Darkness novel manuscripts I need to rewrite to make into United States of Monsters ones, which is harder than it sounds.

 

Also, the Supervillainy Saga comic is in production with some beautiful art.

 

Basically, I need to buckle down and choose a project to focus on.

[Book Giveaway] The Fall of Supervillainy and Return of Supervillainy free from April 10 to 15th

Hey folks,

I have some great news for fans of the SUPERVILLAINY SAGA (both of you!). Specifically, both the 9th and 10th books of the series, THE FALL OF SUPERVILLAINY and RETURN OF SUPERVILLAINY are available for free from April 10th to April 15th! Thanks to the mods for permission!

The Fall of Supervillainy

Gary Karkofsky AKA Merciless: The Supervillain without MercyTM successfully has 'rebooted' his universe and tried to make the world a peaceful one where good is ascendant over evil (and he's rich as Hell). Unfortunately, Gary's lack of knowledge of godlike powers results in the universe starting to crumble. He must find a way to fix it before it collapses and that means visiting SPACCCE and a fantasy world where there's a suspiciously Tomb of Horrors-esque location. Also, who is Larry Karkofsky? The young trans paladin who shares Gary's name?

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG4Z92M4?_bbid=209873592&tag=individualbookpagesite-20

The Return of Supervillainy

Gary successfully defends the Super Duper Splotch Man in a legal case where he manages to get said superhero's marriage back from the Devil he (accidentally?) sold it too. However, this is just the start of his adventures as Merciless finds himself dragooned into the government's wetwork plans to eliminate the dictator of Tomorrow Island. Unfortunately, Helios the Sun King is a controversial figure who many Supers view as a savior for their kind. Gary also has a past with the figure that he is only now remembering.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F89LZNC1?_bbid=331404485&_bbtype=blog

Enemy of my Enemy: A Daredevil Marvel Crime Novel by Alex Segura review

    ENEMY OF MY ENEMY by Alex Segura is the second superhero novel I've read by Alex Segura. The first was ARANA AND SPIDER-MAN 2099, which had the hilarious premise of teaming up two much-neglected characters to face against Judas Traveler (quite possibly the most hated supervillain concept of all time with the possible exception of Paul Rabin). I loved it and thought it was an incredibly goofy but loyal to the characters who have always deserved better. Yes, I'm a guy salty about the fact Miguel is the villain of the second Spider-Verse universe and wonder what Peter David (RIP) thought.

    The premise is that the Punisher has murdered the Kingpin and Matt Murdoch AKA Daredevil has the task of defending him. This is an incredibly strong premise and reminiscent of the second season of the Netflix Daredevil show even if that about defending Frank Castle in general versus killing Wilson Fisk. My first thought was, of course, "I really hope they don't backtrack on this. This is an alternate universe so there's no reason they have to." Unfortunately, it's only chapter later that we find out the Medical Examiner was kept from analyzing Wilson Fisk's body and most readers will deduce this is like those covers that state a hero will die this issue (only for it to turn out to be a clone or something). This is less a spoiler than my reaction and, who knows, maybe my finely tuned comic book reader instincts were wrong.

    Still, Alex Segura has a pretty good grasp on Matt Murdoch and the story is about his moral conundrum of defending a man that he knows to be a mass murderer. The best parts of the novel are also Matt wrestling with the fact that he feels no small sense of joy at Wilson Fisk's death (this is a post Born Again [comic] storyline so many references are made to the Kingpin destroying Matt's life even if specifics like Nuke aren't mentioned). Matt is so deep in his own righteousness, he feels guilty even for wanting Wilson dead even if he didn't do anything to bring him down.

    We also get the inclusion of no less than three former Daredevil girlfriends to compensate for the fact
Karen Page is (still) dead in this universe. Elektra, Dakota North, and Typhoid Mary all show up at various points in the story to comment on both how much they still care for Matt while also privately (or not so privately) bemoaning what a terrible boyfriend he is. Matt is also in a relationship with an original character working in Internal Affairs and it doesn't take long for Daredevil to torpedo this relationship by exploiting it for help in his vigilante efforts despite what a gross betrayal this is. This shows that Alex Segura has a good grasp of who Matt Murdoch is and his often hypocritical self-righteousness.

    The book has flaws even if I overall enjoyed it. Some of the cast are slightly out of character even accounting for an alternate Marvel universe. Would Frank Castle ever make a deal with organized crime even if it managed to get him closer to some big wigs that he wants to kill? Would Matt Murdoch not be able to tell that two women he's had, uh, intimate relations with are the same person even if they are in disguise? His blindness doesn't work that way. Would Bullseye ever work as someone's bodyguard versus just an assassin for hire?

    Overall, I really enjoyed Enemy of my Enemy. Alex Segura has a deep love for the Marvel universe and manages to thread the needle that it's close enough to the Netflix shows that fans of them will enjoy it while keeping it comics-related. The absence of Karen Page for Netflix fans will be an issue but I'm confused why she's still dead in the comics myself (because comics). I am already interested in picking up the third of these Marvel Crime Novels. If I have any complaints, it's the 28 dollar Kindle price tag, which is outrageous. I strongly suggest people pick up the Audible version instead.

Available here 

Review - Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel review

    BREAKING THE DARK by Lisa Jewel is the first of the Marvel crime novels that has been released by the House of Mouse for adult readers. I've already read both it as well as the sequel, ENEMY OF MY ENEMY, by Alex Segura (which stars Daredevil). How adult is it? Honestly, not really very much and it's a lot lighter than either the Netflix show or the original Alias comics. That's not necessarily a bad thing and if you want to read a decent novel about crime fighting with a dash of vampire makeup influencers. 

    Jessica Jones, for those unfamiliar with the character, is the creation of Brian Michael Bendis when he couldn't use Jessica Drew AKA Spider-Woman (I). His idea was to do a gritty private detective series with a female protagonist in the Marvel Universe and more or less succeeded. So much so that a successful Netflix TV show was created around the character. In all likelihood, if you want to buy this book, you probably already know the character from one or the other. 

    This isn't quite either the comic version or the TV show one but a hybrid as little is made of Jessica Jones' ties to other Marvel superheroes and no mention of her past as Jewel but Malcolm is obviously the character from the comics rather than the Netflix version. This is less confusing as it sounds but the alternate continuity becomes clear as Jessica's pregnancy with Luke Cage's baby plays a role in the story but none of the messiness related to her dating Scott Lang by the time they find out. This isn't a spoiler as her discovering her pregnancy is a chapter or two in. No Trish or Carol Danvers serves as her major female friend. 

    Indeed, if I were to summarize this book's take on Jessica Jones, it would be she's considerably less messy than either of her incarnations and her inner world streamlined. Jessica has strong feelings for Luke Cage already and would want to marry him even before the baby becomes an issue. She's traumatized by the Purple Man but the exact details are never gone into like they were in both the comic as well as show. I'd go so far as to say this Jessica is far more functional, likable, and effective as an adult in a profession. Which isn't to say that the more mainstream versions aren't entertaining but they're both heavily reliant on their interpretations of Jessica being a human train wreck.

    With all of that out of the way, is the book any good? Yeah, I think so. The premise is Jessica is hired by a woman who thinks her children have had something strange happen to them while they were visiting their father in England. Whether trauma, changeling substitution, or brainwashing is something she can't tell even if her primary clue is they no longer care about their cell phones. Jessica, needing money, takes the job and finds that they are actually Stepford Children that are related to a story taking place a hundred years earlier. Along the way, Jessica Jones discovers an evil makeup influencer (aren't they all) and a woman who wants to kidnap women to force them to watch John Hughes movies in their jammies. I'm not kidding.

    The weakest part of the book is probably the flashbacks to the villains' past that take up way too much of the book and don't have any characters as interesting as Jessica Jones. The bad guys' motivation isn't particularly intriguing and I would have appreciated it being more about our central character. On the plus side, I like that they went with an original villain that isn't precisely explained in an easy category like mutant or vampire.

    In conclusion, Breaking the Dark is a solid and entertaining novel that feels like it takes place in the present with the culture of beauty, teenagers, and the generational divide. Jessica Jones is a bit nicer and more put together than usual but that actually fits well with her preparing to be a mother. I like the story and while it's not really the "dark and gritty adult crime novel" I expected, I had a lot of fun from it.

Available here 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance review

    KINGDOM COME: DELIVERANCE was released in 2018 to mostly positive reviews but quite a few complaints. The result of an indie developer and Kickstarter money, it was initially riddled with bugs but a labor of love. Much to the surprise of the community used to developers abandoning their games after release, Warfare (the company) continued updating the game with hefty DLC as well as patches. The Royal Edition was followed by a massive graphics upgrade to modern consoles just this year and it is now on par graphically with the recently released Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. 

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a alt-historical story that contains a few mild traces of low fantasy set during the war between King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia and King Sigismund of Hungary in 1403. As they're a Czech developer, this is important national history for them but for a majority of players used to only English or French history, it is a fairly new period. Fans of low fantasy will love this feeling as the Game of Thrones feel is strong and the real-life historical figures are every bit as messy as the best grimdark fiction.

    The premise is that you are Henry, a blacksmith's son in the city of Skalitz (technically Silver Skalitz, which is a bit weird to leave off). Skalitz is treated as a small village, though, and it doesn't take someone familiar with most fantasy to know that their home life is doomed. King Sigismund's forces sack the city as they did in real life and Henry is left to seek refugee in the nearby city of Talmberg. From there, he attempts to go back to Skalitz to bury his loved ones only to get mugged and lose his father's sword.

    Yes, that is the plot of the game, losing your father's sword and recovering it. The game benefits strongly from keeping the stakes far more modest than in other games. Henry saves a noble's son? He gets a horse. If you manage to do fantastic service to the kingdom, then you can potentially become an adult squire to a nobleman with no real expectation of being knighted. This is, to Henry, fantastic social mobility. Certainly, much better than being a blacksmith but you're an enlisted man versus an officer and work for a living. You even start the game as illiterate and have to pay to be taught to read.

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance's early gameplay is punishing as hell and that hasn't been changed by the updates. Henry has no knowledge of combat at the start and if he starts a fight with the town drunk in the starting area, he's liable to get his ass kicked. You have to train and master the controls both in order to survive Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Indeed, the realism is helped by the fact that facing down multiple opponents is suicide until you've managed to get yourself some decent armor. Even then, you can find yourself taken down by not managing yourself against opponents from behind.

    Much has been touted about the game's realism with Henry needing to eat, sleep, and clean himself regularly. If you neglect the above or don't manage the numbers carefully by overeating, you end up getting status debuffs. The save system is also punishing with the fact that you need special potions to save or a safe place to sleep. The latter was so unpopular that they implemented an automatic saving system that happens when you quit the game. Even then, the current system sucks and is one major area of complaint versus if they'd just included an unlimited save system.

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance's gameplay is a lot like Skyrim with no magic, a much better dueling system so that button mashing is not your friend, and a very slow fast travel system. You have to do the things you want to master and while my Henry ended up a Renaissance Man with knowledge of alchemy, healing, swordsmanship, thievery, speech, and horse-riding, he also worked like hell for all of these. He was also a crappy archer no matter how hard I tried to master it. The game caused me to almost quit several times during the early period with how hard lockpicking and stealth were but then they suddenly weren't. It's an addictive gameplay loop and I ended up putting something like a hundred hours in just the main game.

    The DLC for the game is fantastic with my favorite being "A Woman's Lot" where you play Henry's childhood friend and possible love interest, Theresa. That is also hard but nicely switches gameplay as while Henry is capable of fighting at later levels, Theresa must stealth her way through the sacking of their village. I also am fond of "From the Ashes" where Henry is given yet another gag promotion in the prestigious position of bailiff--of a town that's already been burned to the ground. He must now shell out all of his money from adventuring to get the place running and spending the equivalent of Richard Branson money in Medieval terms.

    I really like Kingdom Come: Deliverance and think it is something that everyone should play before they pick up Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The story is great, the worldbuilding impressive, and the adventures are all entertaining. There's some flaws in the gameplay and I wish there had been slightly punishing early options. Even so I came to love all the characters and learned a huge amount about the 14th century Holy Roman Empire. 

9/10 

Resident Evil: Requiem review

    RESIDENT EVIL: REQUIEM is the latest installment of the incredibly long-lived franchise that started when I was a wee teenager and has continued steadily ever since. I'm a huge Resident Evil fan, albeit not really someone who masters the games. I got my start reading the SD Perry novels and enjoyed all of the Mila Jovavich movies that were a source of comfort during a dark period in my life alongside Kate Beckinsale's Underworld series. Long story. Resident Evil has always been dumb fun for me but also my baby's first horror series as well. There's darkness and scares in the series but up against a bunch of people who like to shoot it in the head.

    Requiem is the ninth numbered installment of the series but there's literally dozens of spin offs ranging from Revelations to light gun games. I haven't played all of them but I have played a lot of them and my favorites are probably VII and the Resident Evil II remake. I prefer Resident Evil to Silent Hill but I never really came to love Resident Evil IV the way so many other video game fans have. I'm just not a big fan of pulse-pounding action versus more methodical investigation that others emphasize.

    Resident Evil: Requiem is a game that chooses to split the difference between the action and horror elements of the franchise after recent games have been struggling to balance the two. It also attempts to marry the extensive past of Resident Evil (which is for old folks like me) with an introduction for newcomers. Whether it succeeds in this is going to be a matter of individual taste rather than something that can be definitive spoken.

    The premise is that Grace Ashcroft is the adopted daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, a protagonist from Resident Evil: Outbreak. Grace's mother was murdered years before in a creepy hotel that Grace is sent to investigate by the FBI despite the fact she's not an agent but an analyst. She's also not accompanied by any backup, which does take me out of the story a bit. Seriously, you should send an experienced agent along with her so they can be horribly murdered! Anyway, she soon finds there's an evil conspiracy afoot and is kidnapped by the game's villain, Gideon.

    Meanwhile, Leon S. Kennedy has found himself investigating yet another Umbrella scientist on the run. Leon is now 52 and still looks fantastic but he's changed out Hunnigan for aged-up Resident Evil 2 mascot, Sherry Birkin. Sherry is 40, by the way, which tells me just how old I've become. Leon spends his portions kicking ass and taking names, roundhouse kicking zombies in the face while blowing their heads up with his super pistol. The two protagonists could not be more different and it does give the game some much needed variety.

    The Grace sections of the game deal with the fact she's a clumsy, terrified, and confused young woman who is struggling with creatures that will kill her instantly. The Leon sections are full of pulse pounding action that sadly gets a bit repetitive. Still, I think they struck a pretty good balance with both sections giving you a break from the other. I think the Raccoon City sections are less interesting than the ones set in the abandoned mental hospital (which is as classic a place for a horror setting as possible). Basically, there's only so much you can do with a bunch of abandoned ruins unless you're Fallout.

     The villains are kind of one-note with Gideon being little more than another evil Umbrella scientist and Zeno being a rehash of a character that I thought was overused before 5. Still, the plot is perfectly serviceable and the climax promises a resolution to a lot of longstanding plots. One element I did dislike was the attempt to redeem a longstanding Resident Evil bad guy who you can't really redeem just by saying he had a daughter he loved.

    In conclusion, Resident Evil: Requiem is a solid entry into the franchise with some truly creepy moments and good gameplay but it's also somewhat mid compared to Resident Evil VII and Village that managed to reinvent the formula. Still, I would have preferred to either have Rose as the protagonist of this or have a deeper examination of Leon Kennedy as an aging hero.

8/10