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Assassin's Creed Odyssey | Review, Trailer, Gameplay | Pro-GamersArena

Quick Facts :

• Initial release date: 5 October 2018
• Series: Assassin's Creed
• Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
• Genres: Action role-playing game, Stealth game.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is just about to release. The game trailer has a great deal of constructive responses from individuals. What's more, such a couple of days from the arrival of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft has discharged the official dispatch trailer for the activity RPG. For past trailers, Ubisoft either made two varieties to feature the amusement's two heroes - like the Gamescom realistic trailer or included the two characters in a single video. In any case, this time it's unique. 

For the release trailer, Ubisoft generally centered around Alexios and his development from a youthful youngster into an unbelievable Spartan warrior. The trailer flashes through the conceivable arrangements that you'll have the capacity to use to determine the contentions you'll look in Odyssey, for example, utilizing a bolt storm against moving toward watchmen or indicating sympathy towards somebody who's sincerely battling.

Like Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey dives into the most punctual clashes between the people that would in the end move both the Templar Order and Assassin Brotherhood. Be that as it may, without precedent for the establishment, you have the decision between two characters to play as, Alexios and Kassandra. Regardless of who you pick, you'll be given a similar generally story, exchange decisions, sentimental choices, and side journeys. 

What About The Gameplay?

Following a short cutscene you will be promptly requested to pick between two characters: Kassandra or Alexios, relatives of the scandalous Leonidas. Once your decision is made, you'll be dropped into 431 BCE. 

Here's the place your first taste of battle comes in. The center segments are to a great extent unaltered from Origins as you bolt onto foes and perform assaults utilizing the shoulder catches. Battle is available and genuinely lenient, albeit larger amount adversaries won't be reluctant to squander you in two or three hits (Not for my situation, 😜😜). 

The majority of encounters can be outperformed effortlessly. That is, insofar as you aren't imprudent. One of the principal moves you're educated is the repel. Accomplished by squeezing RB+LB, when utilized at the opportune time it leaves foes powerless against assault. I discovered this basic when managing which enemies whose watch wasn't effectively broken, which means I'd need to consider unheard of options to get a few slices in (where i mostly fail, 😝).

Avoiding is additionally vital, and doing as such seconds previously an assault results in a couple of valuable seconds of moderate movement, giving the ideal chance to strike. Everything feels astounding, regardless of whether early gear leaves a great deal to be wanted, doesn't make a difference around then. 

Dialogues are now a pervasive piece of Assassin's Creed, advising how you'll approach missions and connections all through Ancient Greece. This additionally stretches out to connections, with both Kassandra and Alexios ready to handbag sentimental undertakings of any gender. I worship this portrayal in such a blockbuster title, giving players a chance to be spoken to in a medium that is yet to really grasp inclusivity. 

It isn't nosy either, surfacing as discretionary discourse alternatives all through my few hours with Odyssey up until now. It's as yet vague to what expand picked exchange will affect the general plot or on the off chance that it'll just have a say in side missions, however even without this present it's as yet a long ways from the conventional structure past games received. Voice acting is tragically a blended pack outside of the primary cast, in spite of the fact that this could enhance sometime later. 

Ancient Greece is absurdly colossal. Comprised of many islands of changing sizes, you'll investigate the universe of Assassin's Creed by foot, steed and vessel. The last will be utilized to swap between island.

Trailer Impression :

I'll let you to decide this. Here's the trailer below, you can watch it and tell me in the comment box, what you think of it?

About Pre-Order :

You can pre-order Assassin's Creed Odyssey at best price from here. Just click on the Buy button.

Ween : The Prophecy - WON! (No More Strawberries)

Written by Alfred n the Fettuc

At last, I have vanquished Ween! It took me long enough, not because it's a particularly long game but especially because I have had a few extremely busy months, and very little time to play or write about it. I apologize for my fellow readers (and to the ones who were playing along and have probably finished the game by last October). But we are closing in on KRAAL and the REVUSS! Last time we stopped, we were entering the heart of the Volcano and been greeted by a menacing gargoyle resembling a Ghostbusters demon dog.

Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!

Let's look at this new room. A drawbridge blocking my path with some letters above it, a bowl (that I take) and five alcoves, one lit and four dark. In the lit hideaway, I find a lever. If I pull it, a stone rises from the ground. Pulling it again makes the stone get back in the ground and some of the letters light up. In the statue itself, a greyish spot attracts my attention. Clicking on it brings me a close-up of an ornament stuck into the stone skin of the statue. Not one to use violence to solve my problems, I turn my cauldron into a sword and hit the statue. It works and the ornament is freed from its stone grasp.

Yeah, we'll ask KRAAL to send us the bill.

Picking up the jewel tells me it's missing a piece, so it didn't really solve anything. I realise that I can use the sword again to make the hole in the statue bigger so I hit it three times and the hole reveals a ruby. And we know what to do with rubies, don't we? I turn my sword back into a cauldron and mix a Luciferys potion. I light the ruby up because the place is probably not hot enough already with the lava river. The ruby consumes itself and reveals… another jewel. This one seems intact however. It's shaped as an insect of sorts. Not knowing what to do with my insect jewels, I search the dark hideaways. Three of them don't do anything but the fourth hides a weird looking monster.

Yes. With teeth.

Trying to use the jewel on the monster doesn't work and clicking around doesn't seem to reveal a lot. It's time to ask old man PETROY for some clues. When asked about the letters, PETROY tells me to "never lose sight of your enemy". Asking him about the different hideaways, he tells me numbers, one to five. More interesting, asking him about the jewel tells me that "the sculpture is so good that the animal seems real". Facepalm moment! Of course, a stone sculpture of an animal may as well be a real animal turned to stone. I make some Vitalys potion and use it on the jewel. It works! And now I have… errr… some kind of little firefly thingy flying around. Yay. Considering it's flying around the letters, I try my bow to shoot it and realise I can actually shoot arrows at the letters!

Yes, I'm confident enough about my archery abilities to try and shoot a firefly 50 feet away.

As PETROY has told me not to lose sight of my enemy, I shoot the letters KRAAL in order but nothing happens. I guess I have to light all the letters before trying again, so I have to find a way to light up these hideaways. Pixel-hunting the whole place, I find a hotspot hidden in the lower-left corner of the screen labeled "crack". Clicking on it tells me that I can hear a bubbling noise behind it. I turn the cauldron back into the sword (grr again) and smash the crack. Some lava starts flowing out of it. More interestingly, the firefly stops flapping around and lands near the lava, allowing me to catch it!

No fireflies were harmed in the making of this game.

I try using the firefly in one of the dark hideaways and the little wretch flies away. However, I think I'm on the right track because in the close up it looks remarkably like the light in the lit alcove. I have to find a way to make the little bugger stay. I try to mix another Vitalys potion but it doesn't work in reverse. I spend quite a lot of time trying different things to no avail. After that, I go back to the monster in the fifth alcove and bug it several more times until it vomits something onto me! Turns out it's glue... I get some with the help of the bowl, trying very hard not to think about the way this game looks quite centered about different types of monster vomits.

Yeah because the first thing you want to do when a monster vomits on you is keep a sample. (Maybe it's another Ghostbusters reference?)

Putting the glue on the firefly (because putting the firefly on the glue doesn't work for some reason), I can make it stick! I go to the first hideaway on the right and glue the little bugger into it. It reveals another lever and another piece of broken jewel. I put glue on the part of broken jewel and stick it to the other part. I now have to turn back my sword into a cauldron, make another Vitalys potion and turn the jewel back into a firefly. Then I have to turn the cauldron into a sword in order to hit the crack (because the lava seals it back every time) and catch the firefly. Considering I'll probably have to do it four times, it's gonna be a long screen.

I think I have seen this animation a million times now.

I also try to pull the lever in the alcove that was labelled as "one" by PETROY. This time, the rock lifts and the letters light up simultaneously. I'm guessing that the number is the number of times you have to pull the lever for the letter to light up, but maybe I have to make all the stones rise at the same time? We'll see about that once we have lit all the alcoves.

Too bad the bad guy isn't called LEVATT or VATELT...

Putting my new firefly in the third alcove, I reveal another lever and another jewel falls from the ceiling. Sigh. At least I can verify my theory by pulling the lever three times and lighting up more letters. Now I turn back the sword into the cauldron and bla bla bla until I have another firefly-with-glue-on-it to light up another alcove. In order to break the monotony, I light up the fifth alcove instead of the fourth one (ain't we crazy?), which is the alcove where the vomiting monster was hiding.

The fabulous invisible vomiting monster!

No monster here but another lever (which I pull 4 times to make the letters ORT appear) and a twig. The monster statue is holding a vial of sorts with which I tried several things before but wasn't able to achieve anything with it. But the twig is the perfect item to try again. I use the twig in the vial and I get… another jewel! Oh joy! Oh variety! I do the whole ordeal again to get another glued firefly and light up the fourth and final alcove! But there… no lever!

No! Just when I thought I was on a roll!

Nothing but a hole in it. I try several things on the hole (mainly the sword and the pipe) but nothing works. Considering I only have the NIA letters to light up, maybe I don't need them after all. I may use the letter A for the upper left twice? But no, it doesn't work (as it was somewhat expected, I may have found the empty alcove way earlier if I had chosen another order for my fireflies). But what to do now? I try everything. Pouring the glue in the hole, calling URM (only to hear that without any kind of fruit, I can get lost. Ingrateful flying rodent). I spend a lot of time there. Finally, a bit by accident during an umpteenth transformation of cauldron-sword-pipe, I use the copper ball in the hole and it works!!!

Facepalm moment #237

I admit I had completely forgotten the copper ball at this point despite transforming it every five minutes. This is the first time I actually use it as an item since the very beginning of the game and at no point it occurred to me I could use it as is. Well I did do it eventually but I spent a lot of time on this screen and I kinda stumbled upon the answer. Anyway, pressing the ball in the hole reveals another lever and another jewel (confirming the fact that you could do the alcoves in any order and not that the alcoves would change depending on the order you light them). I pull the lever 5 times and light the remaining letters. We're getting close! I shoot the letters KRAAL and the drawbridge lowers… revealing… KRAAL himself!

I had literally a bow and arrows in my hands… how exactly did he get the upper hand?

KRAAL thanks me for bringing him the three grains of sand and he tells me he will put them himself in the REVUSS, so the prophecy won't be fulfilled and he'll gain more powers. However, he tells me he has designed a mechanism for the grains of sand to be automatically put inside the REVUSS while he is getting married with OPALE. Why he doesn't put them now in the REVUSS is anyone's guess, but I think this is a James Bond villain thing : design an overly-complicated Rube Goldberg device in order to let the hero win in the end. OPALE appears to me and confirms I still have one chance. However, I'm now locked inside KRAAL's jail.

Is that Djel or Azeulisse in the lower left corner?

Graffiti on the wall says "None will leave here without the help of the blazing star". There is also another carving. A D and an A with a heart-shaped hole in the middle, telling that Djel and Azeulisse have also spent some time in KRAAL's cells. The question is whose skeleton is this? Anyway, searching the skeleton in the corner brings me a heart of stone, which I can insert inside the heart-shaped hole but it doesn't do anything. Another carving on the left shows me two suns, with an arrow in the middle and I can reach the lock through the bars.

Miracle or very bad prison design?

Fiddling with the locks, I can make the needle spin around but it doesn't do anything. Pixel-hunting thoroughly the walls, I find a nail stuck between two cinderblocks. I rip it out with several clickings (despite WEEN whining "it's impossible to rip it out" twice which is a fine example of a protagonist trying to lure the player away from the right solution) and can use it to play with the locks. Putting the nail inside any hole on the two clock-like diagrams lift one bar and one bar only. If you remove the nail, the needle goes back into the up position. Whatever you do, even if you wait a few seconds, the bar goes down again and blocks the exit.

The only clue available.

Following the clue, I try to put the needle in the 9 of the second lock, then remove it and put it in the 3 of the first lock but it doesn't work. It's becoming pretty obvious that I need a second nail to make any progress but no amount of pixel-hunting gives me anything. I try lifting several different bars in order to make something happen but nothing works. Everytime a bar lifts, there is a hole in the ground that becomes atteignable. Considering it's not a hotspot of any kind, I dismiss it quite quickly because it's tedious to try every clock position… but after a while I eventually go back there and test every hole under every bar, and what do you know?

It was a hard clue to pin down.

Considering you have to randomly try to look under every bar, this puzzle is quite infuriating, but once the second pin in my possession, the rest was quite easy. Following the clue, I put the nail in the western position of the right clock and the pin in the eastern position of the left clock and tadaaa. The door opens!

Good thing KRAAL didn't think to put the lock three feet further from the door.

Leaving the cell behind me, I go up the stairs and finally discover the REVUSS! And the overly-complicated contraption designed to put three grains of sand inside an hourglass in the most ridiculously complex way possible.

I think this deathtrap lacks a shark or two…

So what do we have here? The REVUSS itself appears to be locked under some kind of glass tube, while the three grains of sand are suspended above it in some kind of container, held in place by a rope that's getting slowly cut by a blade on a pendulum going back and forth (19,95$ at Villains'r'Us). Beneath the hourglass, three levers above an engraving representing three snakes. Finally, two stone slabs, probably hiding some caches. Under the left slab is an engraving with letters I can click on : DEUS, J*LL, Z. In place of the * is a hole where a letter is obviously missing. My first instinct is to spell DJEL on the letters but it doesn't work at first. Turns out you have to exit the close up view of the letters then go back in and spell DJEL for it to work if you've fiddled with the letters before that. Done properly, the word DJEL reveals a cache containing a statue behind it.

I've spent long enough on this caption then decided I couldn't write anything that's family-friendly

The statue is holding a knife and putting the heart into the chest orifice does… well absolutely nothing. I think this will be useful at some point but not right now. Not finding anything else to do, I sweep the place to find what I had missed and I find a bamboo stick behind the REVUSS. This is perfect to make another flute to call URM, even if I can't find any strawberries, I hope he will be useful at something… I use the knife to carve the bamboo but blowing it doesn't work. I have to use the knife a second time to finish the carving.

Good thing I remember my boy scout training.

URM arrives and makes a stone fall from the ceiling while flying around. He tells me KRAAL has put a spell on him and he can't help me because it would make the three grains of sand fall immediately inside the REVUSS (again : why didn't KRAAL simply put the grains of sand inside the REVUSS?). Anyway, I look at the stone URM dropped and it shows the letter A! Now I know what to do. I go back to the carving with the missing letter and put the A inside the hole. Now I can spell Azeulisse! Good thing I paid attention during the game because if you're at that point and don't remember how it's spelled, well it's reload time for you.

Ahzelis? Aseullise?

So I spell correctly AZEULISSE and the second stone slab opens! And… time's up. The rope finally gives way and the grains of sand fall in the REVUSS! What? A real-time puzzle?

You mean "you can still reload a save"

So there is a Game Over screen after all!

No problem at all, I told myself, naively. I spent quite some time looking around, so I just have to be faster and to the point. I reloaded a save, I did everything much faster and… well no idea why but this time, the rope gave way even faster. I first thought that I needed to mess with the internal clock revolutions of my computer or whatever magic mumbo-jumbo (yes I'm very fluent in technical lingo) like in the old Sierra games when suddenly a puzzle was unwinnable because my computer was way faster than it was supposed to be. (I have moving souvenirs from the beginning sequence of Space Quest IV notably) However, I noticed something on my third try. I just clicked a few times on the levers beneath the REVUSS to see if they did anything and it made the blade go notably faster.

Snake centipede?

If the blade could be accelerated by the levers, it could be slowed as well. However, I didn't find any clue whatsoever other than the three snakes drawing under the levers. I thought that if it was the only clue, I should try the first thing that came to mind just looking at the drawing. So I pulled the levers all the way down then all the way up, one by one, from right to left, following the wave pattern of the snakes. It visibly slowed down the blade! Well, to be honest, I had to try it once again from the start because you have to do the lever action immediately when you enter the room or you're doomed from the start.

Oh and when you try this four or five times in a row, the part when you talk with URM is sooooo slow under a strict time limit

So once you've entered AZEULISSE in the carving, the second niche opens and reveals a woman statue. You have to take it and use it on the first statue. The two merge and a fairy appears.

I thought I was the one born of the love between DJEL and AZEULISSE?

The fairy flies to the receptacle and gets back the three grains of sand. She gives them to me, allowing me to put them myself inside the REVUSS and finally fulfill the prophecy and destroy KRAAL!!!

Now THAT's what I call a rushed ending!

Three screens, one of pure text and the exact same screen than the game over screen only with letters of different colors. Earlier in the game, there used to be a cutscene every five minutes or so because a worm had stomach ache or because UKI and ORBI had some little dance moves to show. I can't help but think the whole ending was seriously rushed. That's weird considering the rest of the production values in the game seemed pretty high until now...

But anyway, here it is, we vanquished KRAAL the sinister wizard and fulfilled the prophecy! This was a pretty nice ride, even if an inconsistent one in some ways, but overall, I really enjoyed my time with the game! Join us next time as we explore the alternative paths to see what we missed in this playthrough and then apply a PISSED rating to the game. Hopefully, the stupid twins won't cost too many points to the rating!

Session time : 2 hours
Final Total time : 9 hours
Final Inventory : Flute
Companions : PETROY, URM (after their stunt with the grains of sand, the twins were never seen again)
Number of times the fast travel option was available : Zero

2014 Nominations For The National Recording Registry

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Much like its sister foundation The National Film Registry, The National Recording Registry is dedicated to preserving our cultural heritage, but instead of film, this registry honors what we hear. Indeed, much of culture has been captured through sound. Among the pieces in the Registry include Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream Speech, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, Orson Welles' dramatic Halloween reading of War of the Worlds, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, FDR's Fireside Chats, George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, Tom Lerher's intellectual comedy songs, Igor Stravinsky himself conducting The Rite of Spring in New York, the soundtrack to Star Wars, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Nirvana's Nevermind, and much, much more. That the sounds of America are so rich, so different, so wonderful.



The New York Times reported that Congress passed the National Recording Preservation Act in 2000, in which the Library of Congress was directed to "plan and coordinate a national effort to develop policies and programs to save our nation's recorded sound history and ensure its accessibility to future generations." (Kozinn). According to The Library of Congress this action led to the creation of the National Recording Registry, in which the Librarian, advised by National Recording Preservation Board, annually select up to 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and are at least a decade old. Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, who also heads the National Film Registry, has said,

"These recordings represent an important part of America's culture and history. As technology continually changes and formats become obsolete, we must ensure that our nation's aural legacy is protected. The National Recording Registry is at the core of this effort." ("Hallelujah, The National Recording Registry Reaches 400").

In 2013, The New York Times reported that a new National Recording Recording Preservation Plan was passed, as the plan address ways to preserve and digitize recordings, with focus being put especially on broadcasts and recordings made on neglected, antique, or other "at risk" formats. There are urgent reasons for this, since many precious recordings have been lost. These include about half of all recordings made on cylinders, recordings of Sinatra, Garland, and Gershwin, along with a wire in the Enola Gay that recorded the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. Billington praised the plan, saying,

"As a nation, we have good reason to be proud of our record of creativity in the sound-recording arts and sciences. However, our collective energy in creating and consuming sound recordings has not been matched by an equal level of interest in preserving them for posterity. Radio broadcasts, music, interviews, historic speeches, field recordings, comedy records, author readings and other recordings have already been forever lost to the American people." (Kozinn).

That it took the National Film Registry until 1989, and the National Recording Registry until 2000 to be put into action shows that the idea of preserving our culture in these formats is a very novel one. It shocks me a bit that it took this long, but I'm grateful to see it happen. With 400 recordings as of 2014, we have a great national treasure trove. One that should be cherished and, of course, heard.

Without further ado, my nominations:

1. The Doors
    Artist: The Doors
    Release Date: January 4, 1967
    Recorded: August 24-31, 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California.
    Label: Elektra

    The Doors are one of the most influential and popular rock bands in American history. Their self-titled debut expounds on their signature talents, Jim Morrison's haunting voice and Ray Manzarek's hypnotic keyboard. The album features the famous "Light My Fire" with its endless organ solo, shameless desire in "(Alabama Song) Whiskey Bar", the drug culture "The Crystal Ship" and "The End" an Oedipal, almost scary, avante-garde opus.

2. Pulp Fiction (soundtrack)
    Artist: Various, including
    Release Date: September 27, 1994
    Label: MCA

    Much the film, Pulp Fiction, the soundtrack is a watershed mix-tape of American pop culture. The song features hip-hop "Jungle Boogie", classic rock and roll "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon", country throwback, "Son of a Preacher Man," and surfer rock, "Misirlou"/"Surf Rider." The album also contains some of the best dialogue ever recorded, in particular, Samuel L. Jackson's famous "Ezekiel 25:17" speech.

3. The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
    Artist: Lauryn Hill
    Release Date: August 25, 1998
    Recorded: 1997-June 1998 at RPM Studios, Chung King Studios, Sony Music Studios, The Hit Factory, and Right Tracks Studios in New York City; Perfect Pair Studios (New Jersey; Marley Music, Inc. and Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston; and House Studios in Miami
    Label: Ruffhouse, Columbia

    Lauryn Hill's powerful debut crosses the genres of hip-hop, reggae, doo wop, rhythm and blues, soul, rap, gospel and rock music. Each song steeped in a rich poetic tradition referencing Christianity, which has had a strong role in the black cultural tradition with "Forgive Them Father", and "To Zion", the urban experience, "Every Ghetto, Every City," complex viewpoints on romance in "Ex-Factor", "It Hurts So Bad", and "I Used To Love Him," along with references to older musical traditions with "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" and "Doo Wop (That Thing)". The album was also critically acclaimed, earning five Grammys.

4. "American Pie"
     Artist: Don McLean
     Release Date: November, 1971
     Recorded: May 26, 1971
     Label: United Artists

     Don McLean's poetic anthem of American culture following the deaths of The Big Bopper, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly, or "The Day The Music Died". The song is a call for an earlier, perhaps simpler time in American music and culture that many felt at the time in the wake of a changing landscape. McLean's piece is a great example of contemporary folk, and that genre's ability to resonate with the cultural consciousness.

5. Boston
    Artist: Boston
    Release Date: August 25, 1976
    Recorded: October 1975 – April 1976 at Foxglove Studios in Watertown, Massachusetts • Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California • The Record Plant in Los Angeles, California.
    Label: Epic

    One of the defining progressive rock albums of the 70's, Boston is unique in the sense that it was technological creation. The music was almost exclusively done by multi-instrumentalist, Tom Scholz, and vocalist Brad Delp, who mixed the various tracks together in his basement. The album captures old memories "More Than A Feeling" and aspirations of fame "Rock & Roll Band." The tracks have become staples of any rock radio station.

6. "Freebird"
     Artist: Lynryd Skynryd
     Release Date: November 1974
     Recorded: April 3, 1973 at Studio One, Doraville, Georgia
     Label: MCA

     Regarded as one of the most requested songs in American history, the popular "Freebird" is an outstanding example of Lynryd Skynryd's southern rock style. Its aesthetic significance lies with its powerful guitar solo and its expression of the restless American spirit.

7. "Imagine"
     Artist: John Lennon
     Release Date: October 11, 1971
     Recorded: May–June 1971 at Ascot Sound Studios, Ascot and Record Plant East, New York
     Label: Apple

     John Lennon's "Imagine" is a song that has become synonymous with peace, finding its way in the Olympics and at protest marches. Listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the greatest songs of all time, "Imagine's" iconic piano and idealistic lyrics have fallen into our cultural subconscious, and resonates strongly with Americans today.

8. The United States of America
    Artist: The United States of America
    Release Date: March 6, 1968
    Recorded: December 7 to 23, 1967
    Label: Columbia

    One of the great zeitgeist pieces of the 1960's, the album is essentially the sound of America during that tumultuous decade. The album is very experimental, using electronic synthesizers and a variety of instruments including classical ones. Much of the album is enthused in the psychedelic rock music that dominated times with its unconventional directions and poetic lyricism, as heard in "Hard Coming Love" or "The Garden Of Earthly Delights." The very leftist political air is also touched upon in "Song For The Dead Che."


9. "SantaLand Diaries"
     Artist: David Sedaris
     Release Date: December 23, 1992
 
     Humorist and writer David Sedaris first got his big break after reading excerpts from his "SantaLand Diaries" essay on NPR in 1992. Sedaris gives us the classic holiday tradition of having Santa meet children at the Macy's mall, but from the perspective of a disgruntled elf. Based on true, if not exaggerated, experiences, Sedaris's reading has since become a popular tradition for NPR. 
  
10. Whitney Houston

      Artist: Whitney Houston

      Release Date: February 14, 1985

      Label: Arista

     Whitney Houston was one of the most gifted vocalists of the late 20th century. Her singing defined pop music and black artistry for mainstream America. Her self-titled debut, lauded as one of the finest albums of that decade, and even, all time, is a beautiful exhibition of her talents.

Bibliography

"Hallelujah, the 2013 National Recording Registry Reaches 400." The Library of Congress. April 2, 2014. Web. http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-052.html

Kozinn, Allan. "Now Hear This: Library of Congress Issues Plan to Preserve Recordings." The New York Times. February 14, 2013. Web. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/now-hear-this-library-of-congress-issues-plan-to-preserve-recordings/
    

     

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Is Gaming A Sin? Response To An E-Mail.

Hello xxxxx,

Thank you so much for your e-mail, and may God bless you in your studies and in the pursuit of your vocation.

I am pretty much the only writer on this blog now and I don't contribute to it enough either, I think I started helping on it when I was about 24 and now I'm 32. I was a seminarian when I started and now I have been a priest 3 years.

I take the view that video games are a medium, just like film, music and literature. There are books that Catholics should not read, there are music types Catholics should not listen to, there are films Catholics should not watch, but this does not mean a catholic should not read any books, not listen to any music, not watch any films.

I also take the view that games are a kind of sport/ leisure activity a way of re-creating, of "playing" which according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is a necessary element in being a flourishing human being.

So with those points put together we get-

1) everyone needs to play, to recreate themselves,
2) video games are a medium, a type of entertainment and like any medium in itself it is morally neutral. The particular message or content that comes from the game will define its morality. I am quite strict with myself on this- games with swearing, impurities, or games where you summon demons, I avoid those- sometimes I have bought them and stopped playing them- like 'the last of us' which i thought was too vulgar language. So you're right GTA is going to be something to avoid. But there are plenty of games that are perfectly fine, just as there are films and books and music.

Obviously, for play to fulfill its job as recreation it will, by definition, be in moderation, because pay is there is help us re-create, to de-stress, it should be to let off steam and not a central part of our life. I probably only play maybe 2-3 hours a week.

I think priests who oppose video games are weird and inconsistent. ... do they have a problem with someone playing a sport? of course not! Do they have a problem with someone reading a decent novel? no.

Video games therefore are fine so long as they are morally neutral games (like for example Pac Man, or Candy Crush, or Mario Kart or a spots game or a platform game), or even, on the rare occasion morally positive (where you have an RPG with an inspiring and christian themed message) and always only as a distraction, a small amount of play or diversion to provide recreation which we all need in order to flourish.

In Christ,

with the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

Fr Higgins

Demonic Apocalypse RPG Setting, Part 2

Thank you for the inspiration and ideas. This is leading the setting to be altered to better fit in some of the suggestions.

Originally the Demonic Apocalypse setting was not going to use guns and start a generation or two beyond the Demonic Wars. The commentary is favorable for player characters who didn't grow up during the war, thus not having characters with greater military experience. However, the concept of having a world without guns was something people didn't feel fit the setting.

Changes for Firearms

I will be including firearms in the write ups of characters and locations. They aren't common weapons, but they exist. Ammunition is also scarce because it is dependent on either finding older bullets, hoping they still work, or finding someone who has the equipment and supplies to reload cartridges. For the group that was asking about this, a cautionary note was given to the players.

Guns make a particular sound that can be heard for some distance, especially in areas like canyons. All of the players understand there is a danger of being heard when a shot is taken. This can lead to additional unexpected encounters with bandits, scavengers, demonic thralls, and demons.

Even with the additional risk firearms present in the setting, this was an area people felt was needed to make it appropriate. Along with the basic firearms it was discussed that other military grade weapons could possibly be found, or come into play, later when the party is out on missions. This includes mostly explosive devices, but again could easily expand to other forms of weapons.

Currently available weapons are what is for players, at least to start. If the military, or other testing facility or laboratory, was working on new weaponry for the war effort, that would be something to be introduced during adventuring (of course it was considered a strong avenue of adventure to find new weapons to fight the demons with).

Religious Magic

There was also a question of making available religious magic since this is s demonic apocalypse. I purposefully left this part open for several reasons. The main being, which religion would be the one to represent. So, if you are inclined to have religion play an impactful part into the game you would like to run please do and make it the flavor of your desire.

I will be presenting the demons here more as some form of dimensional creatures that have been allowed to cross over. You might think this is along the lines of the mega monsters of recent movies, but I am going to be using some classical Dungeons and Dragons dimensional creatures to fulfill my combat needs.

Leveling Characters

There were questions about how to level the characters to make them stronger to fight the demonic creatures.

The discussion on this was because the game master's group are very much into the ideal of leveling their characters. After further talking, it was understood that the players were less about playing personalities and were more about the strategy of combat.

I have no problem with doing that, if that was my desire.

For this setting the goal is to create more of a base for personality play between the characters and the rest of the setting. The encounters are leaning towards more creative thinking than just being high enough levels to have the abilities for the party to go toe-to-toe with the main boss. In fact, one of the current story threads could mean that instead of defeating or removing the demons from our world the characters have to come to a different settlement.

Moving Forward

After the conversation and looking over the notes I have been taking for this setting, I have made alterations.

Like previous settings, I am going to focus on creating personalities and locations that can be used as part of the main adventure or side adventures. There will be non-player characters that can be brought in for help or hindrance to the party. There will be descriptions of characters and places that are easily accessible to the party, while others are remote and require them to journey forth from the safety of their known area.

I was asked to create some adventures for this setting. Because of the breadth of desire of the different concepts of what people have mentioned, the adventures I'll create for this setting will be in an outline format. This will allow you to mold it to the style of game you would like to have.

I already have heard where one gaming group has already started running with this idea and the initial adventuring party, or "Fire Squad" has journeyed forth into a nearby abandoned city. Their mission objective was simply to gather up supplies that could be useful for their enclave that is up one of the nearby canyons.

The feedback has been enjoyable on this project. I will admit it has taken on a little more than I thought it would originally. For that I thank those who have sent comments, suggests, and requests.

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