STATE OF THE BASTARD 2025

TOO BUSY LIVIN' TO BE BLOGGIN'

Yes, I know I don't post much here anymore, and yes, I'm aware of all the goddamn problems going on in the world, and we're at a dangerous precipice, but... you can get reminders of that anywhere. I'm not here to be "the #Resistance" or "get your mind off of it, Soundwave made cookies!", in fact, looking at what music I made this year, I might make it worse!

While I only put out two songs (four if you count the two I did for the VNs, more on those later), and they focused a lot on MORTALITY, I still did a lot that I'm proud of.

I played shows, and collabed with friends...

 

I got into making art... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've streamed a lot on Twitch... 

And most importantly... I fell in love!

 

 

If you've followed me elsewhere, you're more than familiar with him... ;) Jeff and I have been talking for a couple years, and when I met him at Megaplex 2023, I spent the entire weekend with him because we got a long so well. Things kept up, and in Megaplex 2024, we finally gave into to that tension we've long held on to, and it's such a relief to have someone that makes me happy, even on bad days. Someone who I can talk to anything about. Someone I can melt into and be insufferable with. 

Turns out all that shit I said last year about "good things can just happen you", and "telling the little voice to shut up when shit's going good" actually made sense!

This is the point where I talk about what I made so let's get on with it: 

MOST RECENT SONG: "Death Of A Bastard" 

"My friends would be too busy to come to my funeral" became "My friends and family are too dumb to solve a post death riddle to find my riches" and I was bouncing a few ideas back and forth between friends whether it could be a song or even a full on concept albums where all my usual suspect collaborators become the typical characters you see in those kinds of stories, "The Widow That Grieves A Lot But Did It", "Money Grubbing Uncle", "Love Interest That Saves the Protag at the last Minute", etc. 

 

I knew I wanted it something slower placed and more early-00s emo sounding.

The twist to make it turn out "less sad" came after I realized, "Well I have Jeff now!"

...and we watched Clue as part of movie night. 

 

And that's how it REALLY happened! Now time for me to go home and have sex with my wife husband boyfriend!

FAVORITE SONG I MADE THIS YEAR: "Grey Muzzle" 

Only did two songs this year because I've been so busy otherwise. but at least they were important songs to me about facing "The End" and "what comes next". "Grey Muzzle" was my way of comforting myself as I'm getting older, and it helps I'm dating a man who's ACTUALLY going grey, but still, we're moving forward and being alive is enough, because being alive means IT'S NOT OVER YET

OTHER COOL SHIT I DID

Chord Progressions

OK, there's ONE MORE track I did this year that I co-wrote for Chord Progressions. The song is called "Fuck Around and Find Out", and the song was BowserPuma learning my songwriting process and how to make shit in Reaper. I taught him some of the basics of what I do, and then I gave the riffs he was thinking of some structure and added words to them. A high point was us playing it together at MFF last year! 

 

Road Kill

 

OK, there's ONE MORE OTHER song I released this year, but in my defense I finished it last year... You should be hearing updates on Chapter 2 very soon! 

I Made A Visual Novel!

I'm stopping it FOR NOW, but at least I can see it be written off and make a little story that people can be satisfied with as a prequel to RPG Pals Club.

 

Raccoon City Thrashers Shirt! 

 

 

Drawn by MY BOYFRIEND and designed by Enbiety!

Fox In The Fedora Season 3

I did some VO work for the show and a big epic musical number but I don't know if those will be out by then so keep an eye out for that.

TREND I LIKED THE LEAST: Capitulating In Advance

Trump was reelected, and the morning after I got stuck in the worst traffic jam in YEARS having to go to Miami at 5:30 AM, and that felt very apt: forces outside of our control got us stuck in a bad situation, and they could have gotten resolved years ago but that would have been too much investment and too much work, and the best we can do is keep our hands on the wheel so we don't crash before we get to where we're going. 

 

Though there's some dipshit who's also stuck in traffic going "HAHA YOU'RE TRIGGERED!". He's actually five cars behind you. 

 

Even if the jackbooted thugs never come out to kill all the queers and browns, every other Republican administration has been AT BEST Smash-and-Grab Capitalism, where the people who promised they'd make eggs and gas cheaper gave their power over to people who run Publix and Exxon, while cutting funding to the people that check the eggs, and use the gas for public transit.

 

The #Resistance Liberalism has been replaced with on the one hand, a heavy sigh and "UGH, not this shit again" while we load up a shotgun, and on the other hand...

"Hey, let's give the guy we've been saying is a fascist will destroy democracy a chance and peacefully transfer power! He only said he'll be a dictator for ONE DAY! January 6th was our biggest talking point for keeping out of the limelight, but c'monnnnn! Let's work with the Ketamine addicted illegal immigrant Neo-Nazi! Instead of forcing him to enact his bullshit and call his bluff, let's just let him do it! We're not going to do anything these last two months to safeguard anything, and it was YOUR FAULT we didn't do a ceasefire"

 

It's rule FUCKING ONE. You don't have to give assholes SHIT. 

TREND I LIKED THE MOST: GamerGate 2 Being More Pathetic And Reaffirming My Stance On Art

You've heard me on my Pomodoro Streams and earlier this very post and last year's State Of The Bastard where I talk about AI, but it remains the same: making stuff yourself is worth it. DIY is worth the effort, and even if it sucks, you have a new skill and you can say you did it. Every little decision in the process of making things is another thing you're personally bringing into the world.

 

There's a HUGE swath of people willing to help you out because they love making things too. The one HUGE lesson I've learned from the furry subculture is the value of community. Opening up to others and receiving the affection back makes you just want to give back more. Even when the world gets you down, this attitude of creation will be a stake you can claim was yours.

Which is more than I can say about the worthless peasants who declare themselves to be "fighting the Woke DEI Mind Virus" and "Making Gaming Great Again". Never doing anything themeselves, since, you know, producing non-AI art or making a game means you might get criticized.

 

I had a lot more written about this shit, but there's nothing these people produce: All the YT rant videos copy each other, and there's no GAMES to speak of produced by these people, only games that have been latched on to.

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS SOONER? Literally Anything About Art

I improved a FUCK TON on the art front, especially with Jeff and Andy teaching me a lot. Seriously, looking through a sketchbook Jeff gifted me and Enbiety before FWA and seeing how much better all my studies and sketches have gotten is ASTOUNDING. Especially when Andy gifted me the Wacom Intuos tablet, and I could do computer art with an actual drawing implement, not just a mouse and patience.
The earliest piece I did at the beginning of the year:

 

My most recent art:

 

 

 

(his name is Vinchenzo and he's a douchebag, he sucks, I love him) BUT IT'S DAY AND NIGHT.

DIDN'T LISTEN TO MUCH MUSIC SADLY, BUT POP MUSIC GAVE US CHAPPELL ROAN THIS YEAR SO LET'S HONOR HER HERE

New Years Resolution #1: Listen To More New Music

Also liked "Not Like Us". Yaaaay

OLD GAMES OF 2024 RUNNERS UP

5. Marlow Briggs And The Mask Of Death (PC): The best $1 you will ever spend on a video game, even if it's impactful "FUCK YEAH!" gameplay gets long in the tooth toward the end. 

4. Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (PC): A very efficient game that takes it novel control scheme and wrings every drop out of it, while avoiding going on too long like the studio's later games.

3. The Sly Cooper Trilogy (PS2): Theivus Raccoonus holds up well, Band of Theives was a welcome if bloated departure and the third game went on too long, but Sly-Day Friday gave us some comedy gold.

 

2. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (PC): My BOYFRIEND (see above) got this for me, and he knew what I was getting into: A combination of retro style, puzzle platforming and vibes that remain chill even when messing up hard jumps. It's a game I chill out with whenever I'm not playing it on stream. 

#1 OLD GAME OF 2024: Killer 7 (PC)

 

 

 

 

 

Another one courtesy of MY BOYFRIEND, this one stands up as game designer Suda51's seminal work. You play as an assassin, Harlan Smith, who is remotely controlling seven distinct personalities, all of which who have different combat abilites and are used for different puzzles throughout the game. 

I highlight the fact that it's a puzzle game first and formeost, even though the unique combat is a "Rail Shooter" where you choose to move which direction you go to along pre-determined paths and have to shoot invisible enemies that you can only see when in "firing mode", because the puzzles and navigation are what the game is really about, and every word matters.

It's easy to say "LOL WEIRD JAPAN!" or "PRETENTIOUS" when the style is so distinct neo-noir, the cast and characters are full of Goichi Suda's indulgences (the assassins are named after The Smiths, one of them patterned after a luchador, etc.), half the bosses are anime girls, and the gameplay is so unconventional. However that belies a greater story that thematically has more relevance today than when it first released in 2005.

 

SPOILER WARNING

The entire premise of the game is an East-West conflict (thought the Eastern power is Japan, not China), the perpetrators of either side (Kun Lan and Harlan Smith) are not really affected by the events of the game, since no matter what your decision was in the game's epilogue, (spare a politician to allow Japan to start WWIII or execute him and have Japan nuked AGAIN) both characters are like "Welp, here we go again!". The events of the game were kicked off by a terrorist plot that got in the way of World Peace, which reflects a cynicism that "War won't end, because people 'bigger' than us keeps wanting it to happen."

 

The final proper level of the game uncovers a conspiracy which states that the Secretary of Education determines who rules the government, since elections are held in schools. Again, relevant when you consider that the Republican Party in the U.S. are more focused on stuffing the courts, which determines which laws can be enforced and can therefore let the people they like get away with anything!

SPOILERS END

If you critically consume what you play, then killer7 will give you plenty to chew on. It's nowhere near perfect, but the bewilderment you'll face every step of the way makes it worth your time, and makes it the best old game I played in 2024. I have no intention of going back, but I think about this game all the time. 

Also you can play as a luchador with grenade launcher and headbutts bullets out of the air.

NEW GAMES OF 2024 RUNNERS UP

5. Paper Trail (PC): Like Brothers, it takes its puzzle mechanics to the absolute limit, and guides you gently enough to where you feel like a smarty whenever you solve the next puzzle, as to be expected from the developer's previous game, Hue. 

 

4. Mouthwashing (PC): I liked the GAMEPLAY of Paper Trail over that of (what little of it there was it) in Mouthwashing, but the overall presentation of its story and an OH SHIIIIIT moment early in the game made me bump it up a spot to give it a recommendation as a game you need to experience.

3. Crow Country (PC): A lot of reviews are copping to the obvious Resident Evil and FF7 comparisons, but it can very much stand aside those games in a PS1 demo-disc, especially when it has plenty of new tricks up its sleeve and some desperately needed QoL changes that make this go down smoother as it ramps up the overworld difficulty in the late game. 

 

2. Strange Scaffold's Output in 2024 (Life Eater, Clickolding, I Am Your Beast) (PC): Strange Scaffold did A LOT to pad out my games to beat in 2024, and this is a studio to watch because Xalavier Nelson Jr.'s and his team have a penchant for making games that are spontaneous, yet confident, whether it's the "behind the scenes of Saw" horror of Life Eater, the visceral "FUCK YEAH" thrills of I Am Your Beast, or the ability to turn an inside joke into a game like Clickolding. 

#1 NEW GAME OF 2024: Balatro (PC)

 

 

 

 

I have not played this game in months because I physically had to stop myself. It was incredible seeing people scoff at "Poker With Spells", only to say "I get it..." an hour after playing. The game was more or less developed by one guy as a coding practice, and shot up to Game Of The Year nominations all over the internet. 

Winning your first run feels like a hard fought victory, and higher stakes require zeroing on the optimal strategy of what you've been presented. I've not made any Galaxy Brained plays, but like Vampire Survivors, I had to keep this game out of sight, out of mind because otherwise, I would play this game at every opportunity. 

However, I still yearn to reintroduce this game in to my life because it's so well designed. Like with Deus Ex, any time anyone mentions it, I still need to replay it and I get a liiiiiittle more back into it each time.

ANNUAL REMINDER I SHARE A BIRTHDAY WITH MC BAT COMMANDER

Actually, Christian Jacobs let me down this year:
-The AI video for "Whatever! Forever!"
-The weird tangents from the live show I saw in Ft. Lauderdale (even though for the most part the band was incredible)
-Him and his brother Parker Jacobs split ways with their brother Tyler, who helped with a lot of creative decisions for the band, and then Tyler got divorced, became homeless for a time, and then got disowned when he came out as bisexual a few years after they were out of his life.

Allegedly MCBC has been trying to repair things, and he isn't as much of a whackjob as Parker, but this just puts everything in a bad light and leaves me feeling a little sour over someone I've seen as a guiding light for so many years. 

Though there is a lesson in that. MCBC has to be MCBC, I don't. I can be me. 

Maybe something else will go in this section next year, but right now I'll leave you some lyrics from "Grey Muzzle" that will keep you around until then:
It goes to say
That we're still in play
And that's a damn good reason to sta

Status Quo Sunday Wants To Meet Jessica Harper

 *dusts this off* All right, let's get back to it... but first!

RACCOON CITY THRASHERS SHIRTS ARE NOW OFFICIALLY FOR SALE! 

 

People were psyched to get them at FWA, and now since FWA is over, my stock is for sale on Bandcamp! Scronce did a really good job on the design, and the printers are the same people who did my Swoletariat shirts, so they're built to last!

Speaking of FWA...

TFF and FWA were A-OK!

Made the rounds to Dallas and Atlanta this year, and while the specifics fade away, there's still PLENTY of highlights!

For Texas Furry Fiesta, I got to meet up with Luis Huerta, aka GamutFeathers, who has whimsical watercolor style, and if you follow the Pomodoro streams, did the "Fangs Of Fury" design practice that became a staple of me making up songs on the fly.

He came to my show, AND gave me a signed Lorcana card! I still need to play my first game, but I'll be sure to slot this in! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furry Weekend Atlanta could be best summed up with this picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From left to right, Enbiety, me and Scronce, and FWA was the first time we were all in the same room together. UB and Scronce are not only incredible supportive of my music, but also me as a person. I love them both very much, and could not ask for better friends. Even on our worst days, we always encourage each other to keep going.

It was also UB's first furry convention! We met back when I was regularly playing anime cons, and was floored by the sheer difference in enthusiasm, especially when it came to my shows.

Scronce is also wearing the shirt he designed! It started off as kind of a joke in our discord, but then he drew a flxing Thrash and we took it off from there. YES HE GOT PAID FOR IT. HE DOES GOOD ART, BRENT.

Before I go into the next section, I want to give a shout out to the AV teams for TFF and FWA, because they were on point the whole time. I still feel weird asking for stuff, because it's just little old me, but both cons did their best to match my freak as the kids like to say.

Discord Movie Nights: A Jessica Harper Double Feature

In an attempt to cross more movies off my "To Do" list, I've made a list of movies I haven't watched yet to go through. In an attempt to put more stuff on this site, I'll be talking about them a little bit, because let's face it, I do ignore this place A LOT. 

Phantom Of The Paradise

Phantom of the Paradise is a rock opera from 1974 directed by Brian De Palma. A songwriter, Winslow Leach, has his version of Faust stolen from him by a greedy record exec, Swan, played by Paul Williams.

I first found out about this movie through, of all things, a short made by Matthew Gafford set in his totally original universe, A Fox In Space.

The blue bird, who's totally not Falco Lombardi from the Star Fox series, is dressed as Winslow Leach, once he adopts a disguise and starts interfering with the opening of The Paradise, Swan's latest venue. Didn't know anything about it, it just looked fucking cool. 

Phantom fucking GOES after a couple brief songs that introduces a fictional nostalgia band, and Winslow's song. After that, he gets ripped off, goes to jail, gets his teeth ripped out, escapes, gets deformed and starts killing people. 70's movies have a reputation for feeling slow, but Phantom avoids the pitfall by filling long shots with a unique sense of dread, like "OooohhhhhHHHHH"

Jessica Harper plays Phoenix, a singer auditioning for Swan's new production, and GOD DAMN WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY TELL ME ABOUT HER BEFORE? She's pretty and has this voice that draws you in, Very reminiscent of Karen Carpenter. 

Overall, it's a very simple premise that's been done before: the music industry is like a deal with the devil, the humble creative vs. the greedy producer, blah blah, we've seen it before. BUT, it's presented in such an exciting and gonzo matter, with performances that for how over the top the material is, are very reserved, Phantom of the Paradise draws you in to see what's around the corner.

Right after the movie finished, I looked up how old Paul Williams was when he made this because he looked super old, and he was 34. I'm 36. People aged differently back then.

Shock Treatment

If I had a nickel for every movie I've seen where Jessica Harper plays a woman who performs well as a one off thing and then gets wrapped up in super stardom where she ends up constantly performing under the influence of drugs, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but weird it's happened twice. 

Shock Treatment is the 1981 sequel/follow-up to the seminal Rocky Horror Picture Show, dircrected Jim Sharman, and co-written by him and Richard O' Brien, the latter being responsible for the ICONIC music from RHPS. It follow Brad and Janet, now married, in the audience at a television studio. They aooear on the game show "Marriage Maze", and Brad is committed to an institution in the name of Mental Health.

The setting makes it feel very uncomfortable to watch, because it ALL takes place INSIDE the aforementioned television studio. There's no outdoor establishing shots, or off-site locations, and even "outdoor" scenes, where Janet's dad mows the lawn is done on this over-lit, AstroTurf garage. During the song "Lullaby" where everyone goes to sleep, there's a shot of the television audience asleep in their seats. It feels more like the movie takes place in a prison than in a studio.

It's not as memorable as Rocky Horror, but it ends up being more relevant, since it revolves around the themes of Americana propaganda, and ignoring your exploitation and real human problems in the search of fame. 

That being said, there still are some good songs, I'm partial to the opening number, "Thank God I'm A Man", and "Breaking Out". AND, like Phantom, I became aware of this movie in a very stupid way. 

Marc With A C made a cover album for it:

I'm like Slumdog Millionaire when it comes to movies. I ALSO HAVEN'T SEEN SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. 

JAM OF THE WEEK: "Hot To Go" by Chappell Roan

It's the end of Pride Month, I'm Bisexual, you do the math.

NEW MERCH! Pre-Order For Raccoon City Thrashers Shirt

New shirt debuting at Furry Weekend Atlanta featuring everyone's favorite himbo raccoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS A PREORDER!!! THE SHIRT WILL START SHIPPING AFTER FURRY WEEKEND ATLANTA UNLESS YOU HAVE IT ARRANGED TO BE PICKED UP!!!

If you ARE having it picked up, let me know in the comments!

Show your support for the Roughest, Toughest, and Buffest team out there, the Raccoon City Thrashers! Relive the glory of when they curbstomped the Rocket City Trash Pandas. They didn't play, they straight up kicked their ass before the game actually started.

5.3 oz., 100% preshrunk cotton. Art by Scronce, Design by Enbiety

Includes unlimited streaming of Hardcore Nerdcore Punk Rock via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Ursa Major Awards 2023 Nominations Are Open!

NOMINATIONS FOR THE URSA MAJOR AWARDS ARE NOW OPEN!

The Ursa Major Awards is an annual award show that recognizes the best in furry arts. 2023 was an INCREDIBLE year for me, and not just for my music. I worked on a lot of games, been to a lot of cons, and built a great little fan community. Below is a little voting guide so you know what to nominate to help me out!

For Best Anthropomorphic Music
"Hop On" by Rhythm Bastard
"Welcome To The Family" by Rhythm Bastard

For Best Anthropomorphic Game
Pawperty Damage (PC, Composer)
Whisker Squadron Survivor (PC, Kickstarter Backer, Use UNLOCK THRASH on console command)
Chord Progressions (PC, Voice Actor)

For Best Published Illustration
"Dead By Daylight" by Scronce

STATE OF THE BASTARD 2024

HOW I SPENT MY 2023  

I mean, this video pretty much covers it. I put on a lot of awesome shows at a lot of new cons and I'm starting to be recognized more. Finally, I'm getting somewhere! 

Once I hit the big 3-5, (now I'm 36 for clarity's sake) I've made peace with getting older, and I'm officially in my late 30s. However, the furry fandom is filled with awesome people still having this creative, energetic spirit, even in old age, and that's what I wanted to capture with my song Gray Muzzle.

I'm just very wary of how it's all going to GO WRONG. After my FWA show, I was worried that something bad was going to happen to me on the way home. 

It's still a struggle to recognize that GOOD THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO ME WITHOUT SOME KIND OF KARMIC RETRIBUTION. That sounds easy, but when you're acutely aware of the cost of EVERYTHING, it takes the joy out of the small accomplishments. And when you've perceived everything as transactional, it can make relationships where people just want to be around you make you feel like you did something wrong if you've never ACTIVELY tried to impress them. 

Sometimes, things are just free.

FAVORITE SONG I MADE THIS YEAR: "Hop On"

Number one with a motherfucking bullet. Long time fans would know I sang it at FWA 2022, but this makes when I actually finished it and started performing it live.

EVERYTHING clicked here: I found a range and delivery that fits me perfectly, and it's "What if a Disney Villain sang turn of the millenium pop punk?" I mentioned this was originally supposed to a collab with Teddy Wynton, but as schedules changed I finally decided to knuckle down and finish it myself. 

The song is about just not... feeling right when a good opportunity presents itself. You're out with friends, peoples are getting all up ons, but you're just not there, and you have to force yourself to tell the little voice inside your head to just shut up.

Props to Bark Dango for mixing and mastering!

OTHER COOL SHIT I DID

Music Work The Adventures Of Fox In The Fedora

this came to me in a living fever dream and god DAMN it's so sick. Granted, I made it up in a Pomodoro stream when I decided to tune my guitar to Drop D and let it rip, but that's neither here nor there. All I was given was

A. The character is a mashup of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast and all those fake man-names from the MST3K episode of Space Mutiny.

B. "Anytime I think of a fake theme song, I think of Macgruber"

Fox is no slouch in the music department himself. He's not a composer, but my job on the FITF podcast this season was JUST musical arrangement, and he picked out the (royalty-free) tracks to use. For someone who claims he has no musical knowledge, a lot of his picks were inspired and on POINT, even suggesting transitions and ways to Frankenstein the track to what's needed.

He has given his 100% to every aspect of production on this where you don't even NOTICE that it's done independently. 

VO Work On Chord Progressions

Chord Progressions is a slice-of-life VN that takes place in a music store, and, even in its early stages is very charming as you play Eddy, a fox from a country town who moves to the big city. There's a lot of sweet moments and plenty of intrigue in what's only the first couple "days" of story. I liked Extracurricular Activities, and this is very much along the same lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I voice Darrell, a big ol' hunky lion who plays metal! It's fun seeing everyone's reactions to this, and in the next build, you can listen to a song the author BowserPuma and I worked on called "Fuck Around and Find Out".

And thanks to me, he now knows how to use Reaper!

Made Music For Pawperty Damage

(also on itch.io)

FUCK YES, my music finally made it into a video game! 

While it's not much, I'm still pleased people enjoyed this to varying degrees. It's still very well put together, and now you can put your OWN models! Wait, I do have a couple models from VR Chat/VSeeFace...

Scent Collab With HUFFAromas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This was a fun one I NEVER saw coming, but that's the great thing about the furry community: You'll find creativity in unexpected places to help magnify the expereince!

From the copy: 

The show's all wrapped up, and lucky you! Thrash invites you out behind the venue where he's got something stiff for ya! With notes of rosemary, lime, tequila, woods, pits and balls musk~ Note this does come with the 18+ label. Proceeds go to the thrash panda himself!

Shoutouts to ENBIETY for helping me arrange the meeting and for their input with the scent. 

The base of this was a drink called the Salty Raccoon, which is made up of Tequila, rosemary syrup, and lime juice, but then EN came up with the suggestion of forest-y stuff, and trash. Then the "story" of the scent clicked together: a post-show hook up with Thrash where he's brought a stiff drink and stiff... muscles.

TREND I LIKED THE LEAST: "AI Will Put You Out Of A Job!"

Ma'am, I'm an Engineer. And my job is in no risk of being automated.

But I love making art and those who make it, and as I say on my Pomodoro Streams:

ART IS A SERIES OF DECISIONS

If you can't do something, or feel something else, and still proceed, THAT'S A DECISION.

We may not always get "why", but at the base level we can shrug and go "well, that's we got at the end"

Those championing AI, cackling with glee over putting "those creatives" out of a business, while they waste water on images of Drake doing 9/11 or whatever, are no one special. They're either salesmen looking to profit off of it, or are so afraid of producing something to be judged on that they offset it by having a program automate everything.

As Bianca Del Rio put it, what DO you do successfully?

TREND I LIKED THE MOST: Won't Get Fooled Again

WELL, despite the people above, the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America both got great deals for their strikes, and people for the most part seemed to be on their side!

Every cynical ploy going "Well, golly, those GREEDY WRITERS AND ACTORS want to take away SPIDERMAN from you!" was met with "well then pay them"

Which paved the way for UPS and the Auto Workers to ALSO go on strike and get better deals!

And now, with what's going on in the Gaza strip, the public seems to for the most part, seems to support a full on ceasefire, even Republicans! Though I think that's more "Finish your Ukraine first >:("

"B-but Hamas!"
"Yeah, and that was absolutely horrible, however, we've been through 9/11 and now we know how bad all that stuff the US did looks on the other side. No thanks, stop the genocide. Free Palestine."

WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY TELL ME ABOUT THIS SOONER? Dead By Daylight

Played this a long time ago on the Xbone as part of Game Pass, but didn't put much time into it. However, I also had gotten it free via Epic Games Store, and during a Backlog Blitz, I actually played a few matches, and enjoyed it!

"Enjoyed" is actually a very strong word here, since it was more "a very engaging tension", but you know, you get the deal. 

Basic premise: You play as either a survivor who, along with three other survivors are tasked with repairing five generators, or you play the killer who has to down the survivors and "sacrifice" them by hanging them on a hook. 

Sometimes the game can get away from you on either side, and as I've learned with Lethal Company, unless I'm a big fucking pisspants baby I am magnetically attracted to Things Killing Me. Regardless, the developers put a lot of effort and attention to making each killer FEEL different, and like the movies themselves, make them entertaining spectacles.

As I said before, I die a lot playing survivor so I'm unable to get that much nuisance out of the different survivors, but who doesn't love a good "OH SHIT, THAT WAS CLOSE!" moment. 

The honeymoon period for the game is over, and I haven't touched it in a while, but I wholeheartedly recommend it if you are interested in ANY major horror franchise. They'll find someway to get you. 

*cries in 2 Resident Evil DLCs*

I DIDN'T REALLY LISTEN TO TOP 40 RADIO THIS YEAR OR NEW MUSIC IN GENERAL SO LET'S JUST MOVE ON TO THE GAMES

OLD GAME OF 2023 RUNNERS UP:

5. Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People (PC)- The best from Telltale's infancy period that I finally put to bed this year, which made my old Millennial ass feel relevant again, if only for a bit. 

4. Sherlock Holmes and the Devil's Daughter (PC)- A game that, while a tad overloaded with minigames, does a really good job by providing a fun, episodic adventure that puts me in Sherlock Holmes's hot Ral-Zareky shoes for a bit. 

3. Adastra (PC)- I now get why all you people simp for Amicus, and like all Echo Project games, while it's presentation is straightforward , it is exceedingly well written for what started at off as "I got in a fucked up mental place while writing Echo, now I want wolf sm- oh i acidentally wrote a text on queer identity and murdering fascists"

2. The Darkside Detective Series (PC)- Can be obtuse at times like most point and click adventure games, but DD 1+2 use the opportunity to make even the most mundane interactions entertainingly silly. 

#1 OLD GAME OF 2023: Final Fantasy 6 (PC)

 

I have never been one for JRPGs, as the overarching plots always feel too long, and the side bits too numerous to be overwhelming, but Final Fantasy 6 is the one that got through to me, and I enthusiastically wrapped up every last morsel I (reasonably) could.

A lot of people praise the game for things like combat, or writing, but I loved its PACE. Each play session (of about 2 hours) is felt like the episode of a TV show: A character would be introduced, or there would be one new development, or one location we'd have to go to, and I was eager to return to it week after week. 

One major departure that you can say got my attention was the setting: instead of a typical swords and sorcery fantasy setting, it takes place after a major war has essentially rid the world of magic. Everything runs on "MagiTek", combining Magic and Machinery, putting FFVI more in the realm of Steampunk as opposed to full on Fantasy. The game also starts with your party fully powered, so you have a chance to play around with the combat before each new character introduces their new mechanic. 

OH, THE CHARACTERS! After every new introduction, I was able to make a silly little description that jumped out:

Then as the game progresses, their story changes, not just in reaction to the main plot (dictatorship and The Joker try to revive magic so they can solidify their grip on the world), but we learn more about their history, which in turn can change how we perceive them.

Every FF fan is going to have their own favorites, and some may argue this was a TERRIBLE one to start with or not as good as some other one, but it's the Final Fantasy I finished, and it left enough of an impression on me to make it my number one old game of 2023.

NEW GAME OF 2023 RUNNERS UP:

5. Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triangulate (PC)- I guess this is the year of "Two Homestar Runner Games in the #5 Slot" where I still find this now relic-y webseries entertaining after all this time!

4. Advance Wars Reboot Camp (Switch)- Two games from my teenager-dom now spit-polished and readily accessible, with the music even MORE ear-wormy!

3. Baldur's Gate 3 (PC)- I know this feels a little too low, for a game where I can make my DnD character, solve problems in numerous ways, fuck a bear, while STILL happening upon something new around every corner, but I... didn't beat it yet, which with a game as meaty as this is (hopefully) understandable.

2. Chants Of Sennar (PC)- Thanks to Nyx for getting this for me, because this game is very much My Thing, where I'm left to figure so much out via context and I feel like a smarty when I get the right answer AND can see the evolution of the languages you have to decode and how they relate to the societies you find yourself in.

#1 NEW GAME OF 2023: Hi-Fi Rush (PC)

Despite all of the layoffs and fuckery at The Game Awards, it was a pretty good year for gaming, and Hi-Fi Rush, for me stood head an shoulders above the rest. I was awestruck at Chants Of Sennar's ending, but Hi-Fi Rush made my cry.

 

A game that came out of nowhere starring a dork who wants to be a rockstar in a brightly lit cartoony hack-and-slash rhythm action backed by alt-rock? 100% Bastardcore Game. 

 

Combing Rhythm Games and other genres have been a mixed bag in the past: Metronomicon mixed RPG spellcasting and Amplitude, but it was a little TOO easy to fall into a zen-like state and leave strategy by the way side. Metal Hellsinger I couldn't get into, because I don't play shooters the same way I play rhythm games, so it was too much for me to get into the rhythm game flow state, but that meant my shooting strats were in effective.

Hi-Fi Rush finds the sweet spot that makes EVERY action feel quick and easy to do by giving me a variety of attacks on beat, a grapple hook to get to far away enemies, and a parry, so I don't break flow by having to move too much for a better vantage point and then get back on beat. 

 

This is a Wwise-ass game, by which I mean, this game uses every part of its soundtrack. The environment pulses in time to the background music, from basic level features like pipes and bushes, to platforms and conveyor belts you have to jump on. The guitar notes that accompany successful hits are in the same key. As you build up your combo, so does the background track. Stages of a boss fight are broken up into the "Verses" and "Choruses" of the licensed soundtrack.

Now, in this age of streaming and overzealous copyright infringement, there is a "Streamer Mode" where you can use alternative tracks, and the in-house cover bands did a wonderful job.

 

We can argue about how "dated" the licensed tracks are, but Hi-Fi Rush follows in the footsteps of Martin Scorcse and James Gunn to absolutely NAIL the needledrops at the right time. "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys, a song that's felt generic for a while and used in 100s of soundtracks and commercials, starts off our little adventure as previously mention Dork Who Wants To Be A Rockstar, Chai, makes his way through Vandelay Industries (From Importing and Exporting to Robotics?) as part of the Armstrong Robotics progress, ignorant of those scheming behind the scenes. 

 

"Invaders Must Die" by The Prodigy, a song you use when you want to give your action movie a bit of nerd cred, is the the background of all out brawl in the employee cafeteria. In a company that only employs robots. 

 

Not going to go into spoilers, but there is one section in the game where Chai goes, "I AM a rockstar!" that I mentally keep drifting back to get me through the rest of the year.

And all THAT, is what puts Hi-Fi Rush as the best 2023 release I played in 2023!

ANNUAL REMINDER I SHARE A BIRTHDAY WITH MC BAT COMMANDER: