![]() ![]() Wagner's RP2 Tips - Beginner tips and tricks by Wagner's Tech TalkĪdding your own ROMs to RetroidOS.Press OK when asked to reboot to Open Source Android System.Ī great alternative guide can be found at ![]() To return to the Android OS, hold down the Home button for two seconds and click on Switch system. Open WiFi and click on Connect WiFi Network, and select the network you wish to join. To setup WiFi in the RetroidOS system, hold the Home button for two seconds, and select Handheld settings. Once installed, open the Retroid app and say OK when it asks to reboot to the Retroid Pocket System. It shows up under the APK Files menu in Miix). (If you have an RP1, you'll want to download the Retroid App APK file within the built in browser from and install it with Miix. If your preference is to use the RetroidOS closed system, navigate to the Toolbox application and select "Install Retroid Pocket App". WEP does not work on the RP2, so use WPA2 encryption. Once your RP2 is powered on and showing the Android home screen, you should be able to connect your device to your Wi-Fi network through your system settings. On the other hand, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty with Android and fiddling with emulator files and settings, read on. If you want to use your RP2 as a streamlined, plug-and-play, handheld retro game emulator, please click on this link for a step-by-step guide. When you first power your RP2 on after removing it from the box, it will boot into Android 6.0. Please ask for assistance in our Discord Server if needed.įollow this helpful video guide on how to apply the screen protector. This can brick your device if done incorrectly, so please only attempt at your own risk. If you need to restore Android to its original state, you will need to flash it. If this happens, you can find a backup image of Android here, and instructions on the process here. If you do this, you will lose pre-installed emulators and possibly some configuration settings. Due to the age of the RP2's hardware, updates may actually reduce functionality, or cause an app to stop working entirely, due to removal of support for legacy hardware/firmware.īe careful about restoring/formatting Android. This does not apply to the RP2: the various installed Android apps are not written specifically for the RP2, but for all Android devices. If you are coming from a console gaming background, you may be used to all updates being both required and more-or-less improvements. Many of these are older or modified versions which have been optimized to work on the RP2. If this happens, a copy of the contents (without games) can be found here.ĭo NOT update or delete any of the preinstalled apps or RetroArch cores. This will result in the loss of the RetroidOS closed system and all pre-installed games.
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![]() ![]() It's a huge choice filled tidal wave every time you make a character. There are 11 classes, each one of these has 4 or more subclasses that significantly alter the way the class is played(chosen at level one, they aren't Prestige classes), and the big kicker is that you can multiclass at level 1. Deadfire's specific class systems allow for character uniqueness unheard of in RPGs. The true key, is the extremely robust character creation options not cosmetically mind you, that's all standard fare. When you peel back the well crafted surface game of Deadfire, you'll find underneath, the ultimate role playing experience. But allow me to let you in on something that average players dont normally delve into, and what makes Deadfire such a masterpiece. Surface level, the game checks all the boxes for your standard "Good," "7-8/10," "It's pretty fun, if familiar," RPG. You've got a passable story (not as good as the first one), the companions are relatively deep and interesting(though also not as good as the first ones, * cough greiving mother cough * ), they're voiced by your standard professionals from crit role, and yada yada yada. If you want a solid, standard RPG, it's there. Deadfire has unparalleled, undeniable, unbelievable freedom. ![]() ![]() Most of the time, the appeal of multiple playthroughs is for neglected story events which conflicted with first choices, higher difficulty settings now that I have a handle on mechanics, different styles or classes to experiment with, etc.Īnd Deadfire has all these things in decently sizable measure, but it has something else, something that makes me not even care about any of that. And seeing as Pillars of Eternity content is up on the Steam weekend sale, and that whenever the game is on sale, there are always questions as to whether or not the game is worth it, I thought now would be the perfect time to finally write up my thoughts.ĭeadfire is the most replayable RPG I have ever played, and not for the reasons I usually replay RPGs. I've been meaning to write this kind of review up for a while. ![]() ![]() ![]() At the restaurant in the base, they can serve food, which will grant characters who eat it positive effects however, some foods can also have negative effects. Players can run a farm in their base, allowing them to make food. Shops can be leveled up, which allows the player to choose from a wider range of items to buy. Ī new feature introduced to the series is "My Castle", in which the player is able to create a base for their army, where they can establish shops, buy weapons and items, and interact with allied characters. Revelation uses a mixture of elements from Birthright and Conquest: while offering opportunities for gold and experience as with Birthright, it provides varied objectives and strategic elements similar to Conquest. Also included are additional objectives in battle such as defending a base or suppressing enemy forces, and some levels have a limited number of turns. ![]() In contrast, Conquest rewards players limited experience and currency per completed map. The gameplay of Birthright is similar to the prior installment Fire Emblem Awakening and features opportunities to gain extra gold and experience. Each version of Fates is focused around a different gameplay style. The new Phoenix mode revives units on the following player turn. Casual Mode enables units to be revived at the end of a battle. In Classic Mode, a fallen unit is subject to permanent death, a recurring mode in the Fire Emblem series that removes fallen characters from the rest of the game. There are also modes that dictate the fate of characters in battle should they be defeated. At the game's beginning, there are three difficulties: Normal, Hard, and Lunatic. Their gender, appearance, and name can be changed to the player's preference. In Fire Emblem Fates, the player begins by customizing the main character. On July 19, 2022, it was announced that sales of Fates would cease on February 28, 2023, ahead of the Nintendo eShop's closure on March 27, 2023. Upon release, it met with highly positive reviews: Birthright was generally seen as a good starting place for new players, Conquest was praised for its challenge, while Revelation was noted as a good middle ground between the two releases. To show all sides of the story and provide players with different Fire Emblem experiences, the game was split up into multiple versions. To this end, writer Shin Kibayashi was brought in. The team's main concern was adding new features and refinements to the original gameplay, and improving the story, which had received criticism from some fans. ![]() The gameplay, which revolves around tactical movement of units across a grid-based battlefield, shares many mechanics with previous Fire Emblem games, although some elements are unique to each scenario.Īfter the critical and commercial success of Awakening, development began on Fates, with the staff of Awakening returning to their previous roles. In Revelation, the Avatar rallies both sides against the true mastermind behind the war. The overarching story follows the protagonist, a customizable Avatar named Corrin by default, as they are unwillingly drawn into a war between the Kingdoms of Hoshido (their birthplace) and Nohr (their adopted home), and must choose which side to support. Unlike previous titles, Fates was released in three versions, each following a different storyline centered on the same characters: Birthright and Conquest as physical releases, and Revelation as downloadable content. It is the fourteenth installment in the Fire Emblem series and the second to be developed for Nintendo 3DS after Fire Emblem Awakening. It was released in June 2015 in Japan, then released internationally in 2016. Fire Emblem Fates is a tactical role-playing video game for the Nintendo 3DS handheld video game console, developed by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo. ![]() ![]() ![]() 27-29 in downtown Mason will feature bands such as Showdown, Leadfoot, The Wild Honey Collective, Sea Cruisers and others. SUN DRIED MUSIC FESTIVAL – It’s already one of the busiest festival weekends of the summer and you can add Sun Dried Music Festival in Mason, Mich., to the list. The event will also feature 400-plus beers from 80 breweries, along custom art and camping. 28, with two stages featuring sets by Eve 6, Mustard Plug, Remo Drive, Flexadecibel, Melophobix, Tequila Mockingbird, Medicine Man, A Northern Julia and Brother Crowe. ![]() See the full lineup online here.īURNING FOOT BEER FESTIVAL – Muskegon’s Pere Marquette Beach will once again host the Burning Foot Beer Festival on Aug. Read the full story and reaction at Local Spins here.ĭETROIT JAZZ FESTIVAL – The Detroit Jazz Festival will fire up Hart Plaza in Detroit over Labor Day weekend with performances by Herbie Hancock, Kurt Elling & Dee Dee Bridgewater, AZIZA, Gregory Porter, Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Kenny Barron Trio and many more. Organizers cited concerns about being able to host the festival safely amid rising cases of COVID-19. 10-12 event was set to unfurl outside Remus. WHEATLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL – Wheatland Music Festival has been canceled for the second year in a row, this time just a month before the Sept. ![]() 16-18, with Root Doctor, Josh Boyd & The VIP Band, Grady Hall & The Disciples of Funk, Chris Canas Band, Rib Joint Jokers and many more. MICHIGAN BLUESFEST – The Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art will host the weekend Michigan BluesFest on the streets of Old Town in Lansing Sept. SCROLL DOWN FOR A FULL LISTING OF 2021 FESTIVALS Email for festival updates or additions to this list. May your campsite be dry, your totems fly and your ears be filled with the joy of music in Michigan. If we err in 2021, let’s err on the side of optimism and hope for a fantastic festival season. Keep checking this site and festival links, especially as the date draws near. Please note: Even if a 2021 festival is listed here, it could be canceled, postponed or changed at any moment. Local Spins continues to check with festival organizers, websites, events pages and more for list. The contagion COVID-19 completely wiped out last year’s Michigan music festival schedule, with large gatherings curtailed or banned across the state. ![]() ![]() With it’s wide zipper, the main compartments allows users to easily access books, notebooks, laptops, tablets (both stone, and electronic) and clothing. There are enough compartments on this thing to pack for like five different activities.įirst, there is the main compartment, designed to fit your big stuff. The Daylite Plus has pockets in abundance. Pockets and Compartments The Daylite’s Front Pocket is Great for Storing Extra Layers The two side water bottle compartments can hold nalgene and hydroflask sized bottles, and hydrations sleeve fits a water bladder. A sweater, down jacket, and snacks can also find room within the Daylite Plus. There is enough room in the Daylite Plus for a laptop, a few notebooks, pens, and computer mouse (I keep live mice in a fanny pack.)Īll I could need when commuting to school and work, basically. With a 20 Liter Capacity, the Daylite Plus might be on the lower end of the hauling scale. Just for the record, compatible packs include the popular Aether, Aerial, Volt, Viva, Farpoint 80, Porter, and several more that I’m too lazy to list. Still, I can’t help but thing that I’d prefer a daypack that simply flattens, and rolls up for easy storage, rather than walk around with extra bulk. Instead, I’ll take Osprey’s word that it’s a handy idea. While testing the Daylite Plus, I did not get a chance to try out this feature set as I do not have access to a compatible pack. Intended to provide travelers access to a small day pack while travelling abroad, the Daylite Plus (and regular Daylite) can transcend it’s limited status as a daypack Much like those fish that live on the backs of sharks, the Osprey Daylite Plus attaches onto travel packs. Front shove-it pocket for easy access to items.Interior Sleeve for Laptop, Tablet, or Hydration Sleeve.Main Compartment, with several smaller pockets.Compatible with several Osprey Backpacking and Travel Packs.Here’s a quick rundown of some of the Daylite Plus’ nitty gritties, as per Osprey’s Website : Feed it to hungry marmots, take it skydiving, chuck it into traffic. No matter what you do to it, Osprey will back it up. Intrepid adventurers like yourself can test the Osprey Daylite to the absolute limit. They stand by their name, and will repair or replace any damaged gear-good for the life of the product. Osprey knows that their buyers will subject their product to all manner of nasty conditions. They get scraped, thrown, dropped, and dragged. Osprey Daylite Plus Pack | REI Co-op $65.00īackpacks go through a lot. ![]() Take a Look at the Osprey Daylite Plus at REI Mesh Water Bottle Holders May Be Prone to TearingĪ Light, Comfortable Every Day Backpack, That's Also Okay For HikingĬheck Out the Osprey Daylite Plus on Amazon!.Only Truly Comfortable when Straps and Buckles are Fully Adjusted.Can Be Attached to Larger Travel Packs for Day Time Use.Zippered Compartments Offer Easy Access to Gear, Books, or Supplies.Good for light Day Hiking, Great for Students and Commuters.High Quality Materials and Constructions.Check out our full comparison here to find the best daypack for your needs. Related: We recently compared the Osprey Daylite Plus to the REI Flash 22-a similar daypack. Featured, durable, and affordable, the Osprey Daylite Packs are ideal for daytime travel adventures, college students, and commuters. The Osprey Daylite, and Daylite Plus together round out Osprey’s entry level backpacks. It helps us both out-you get to hike with a new Osprey Daylite Plus, and I get to pay off the loan sharks. By clicking on these links, and purchasing something, I get a nice little kickback. Where to Buy the Osprey Daylite Plus BackpackĪffiliate Disclaimer: The following article contains affiliate links. ![]()
![]() ![]() Synopsis: When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it’s up to Earth’s mightiest heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plan.Īvengers: Age of Ultron has a runtime of 141 minutes. ![]() Jackson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, and James Spader Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. The list of compatible devices and smart TVs includes iPads, Apple TV, Amazon devices, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Chromecast, Roku, PS4, and Xbox One.Ĭreators: Directed by Joss Whedon, Produced by Kevin Feige, Based on The Avengers by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby The service includes unlimited downloads so you can watch offline whenever and wherever you want. Go to or download the Disney+ app on your deviceĭisney+ also boasts a vast library of Disney-owned movies and series - plus several new original series coming soon. You may also opt for this discount bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99/month. If you extend past the free trial, the service costs $6.99/month. You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Disney+ HERE, which will allow you to stream Age of Ultron and hundreds of other movies and shows on your computer, phone, tablet, smart TV or streaming device. How to Stream ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ – Exclusively on Disney+Īvengers: Age of Ultron is one of the many awesome Marvel movies that will be streaming exclusively on Disney’s new subscription streaming service, Disney+. Along with Ant-Man, Age of Ultron helped close out the MCU’s Phase 2, setting the stage for an even bigger battle for mankind that would eventually become Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Marvel’s pricey gamble, which received mostly positive reviews from critics, paid off- Ultron banked a total of $1.405 billion worldwide. agents) to thwart the villain’s plan for human extinction and destruction of the planet.Īt the time of its release, Avengers: Age of Ultron was the second most expensive film ever made with an estimated production budget of $365 million. But in order to defeat Ultron (acting veteran James Spader), they’ll have to work together (along with Maria Hill and other S.H.I.E.L.D. ![]() Written and directed by Joss Whedon ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse), the movie lays down the groundwork for what’s to come next in Captain America: Civil War when the Avengers are at odds with Stark and Banner’s actions. The sequel to 2012’s The Avengers and the eleventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Age of Ultron finds our team of heroes battling an artificial intelligence machine that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner unleash to complete Stark’s “Ultron” global defense program. With unique retro-futuristic sound and graphics, player responsive difficulty and a subtle system of tactics combined with classic gameplay, Ultratron is a fun and hypnotic arcade blast which has already thrilled players on Steam – indeed, with its 92 per cent positive user rating, it’s regarded as one of the best examples of the genre.In Joss Whedon's "Avengers: Age of Ulton" the team battles an AI machine (voiced by James Spader) bent on destroying humanity. The game hails from developer Puppygames and combines the captivating experience of an old-school Robotron-esque arcade shooter with a unique retro-futuristic soundtrack and slick, stylised graphics, complete with simulated CRT-curve. Ultratron is a homage to the 80s arcade machines of years past. Blast your way through 40-plus glowing neon levels, avoiding Chasers, Turrets, Spawners, Minelayers, bombs, and bullets, and take on the four giant boss ‘bots of the Apocalypse – Ieiunitas, Bellum, Lues and Letum. Boost your battledroid with power-ups, buy cute but deadly pets in the shop. You are the one remaining humanoid battle droid. The last human has been slain by evil killer robots. You’ll find an overview of Ultratron and some screenshots below. Pricing is set at $9.99 / €9.99 / £7.99, and launch discounts will be available. Curve Digital announced today that the twin-stick shooter Ultratron is coming to the Wii U eShop on May 14. ![]() ![]() As well as playing in the pit band for Christian musical Godspell, one of her earliest gigs saw her shredding on a knock-off Les Paul with her family friends’ band The Eight Balls. “I wanted to have something that was mine, that nobody could copy me on,” she says. Growing up, Jordan was a “precocious” kid set on mastering classical guitar. ![]() I kinda just assumed everyone’s little town was haunted.” “But I don’t think it scared me, because it was always the case. “I don’t want that shit in my house,” she laughs. Though Jordan was mostly unbothered by ghostly whisperings, she still won’t touch anything for sale in the local antique shops. Once, Jordan plucked up the nerve to go into a former girls boarding school which has become overrun by paranormal activity. ![]() Growing up, the musician and her friend Alex Bass (who would later become Snail Mail’s appropriately-named live bassist) would watch the ghost tours pass by with amusement. Jordan grew up in the Baltimore suburb of Ellicott City – supposedly one of the most haunted towns on the East Coast. Instead, this draws on an increasingly complex blend of string arrangements (many of which Jordan wrote alone on a synthesiser during the pandemic) and yet more of the exacting, emotionally eviscerating lyrics that made ‘Lush’ one of the stand-outs of the last decade. On the cover of ‘Valentine,’ 22-year-old Jordan stares down the camera lens with a steely stare, her neck surrounded by a stiffened ruff held up by a tight bow – and musically, too, her second album is a vivid progression from the spare precision that defined her 2018 debut album ‘Lush’. She bursts into laughter and adds: “I’m there holding my Carol DVD, like, ‘Did y’all not suspect?’” I used to wear this little mini-shirt that my sister got me for christmas – it says, ‘ Carol, 2015, directed by Todd Haynes’”. That film is so instrumental to my life at this point. I pretty much came out to my parents by asking for Carol on DVD. “Lesbians are starved for content at all times. “I will watch anything with lesbians in it,” announces Jordan, who – as you might expect, given the reference points in her latest video – has been revelling in the latest wave of period dramas centered around queer woman. Sadly smearing her face with chocolate cake, Jordan plays a handmaiden consumed by jealousy, and attempts to save the lady of the house from one of her potential suitors by murdering him in cold, ketchupy blood.ĭrawing on a collage of queer references, ranging from The Favourite and Fingersmith to Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Ammonite, it’s a fitting introduction to the world of Snail Mail’s second album, also named ‘Valentine’, which digs even deeper into the messy guts of love, and recasts the musician as a lovelorn Victorian heroine in the visuals. In Snail Mail’s epic music video for ‘Valentine’, Lindsey Jordan – who has long been an artist with an unrivalled knack for bottling the pain of all-consuming infatuation – takes the idea of romantic obsession to her most dramatic heights yet. ![]() ![]() right-click any drive in Windows Explorer and look for the Disk Cleanup button.Not everyone feels complacent with small icons size and neither with the large ones consistently likewise, commonality with lousy sight and elderly persons struggle with font size often. If you are getting short on free diskspace, then call for the Disk Cleanup agent. Select an icon from the list, and then click OK. To alter the Recycle Bin’s appearance, click Change Icon. ![]() I expect that you will soon notice the different appearance of the empty and full recycle bins, it is also possible to change the icon associated with the bin. If you right-click the Recycle Bin then you can tune it’s size and decide whether or not you want to see a warning message when you delete stuff. However, this is dangerous as it removes the safety net normally associated with the Recycle Bin. You can bypass the recycle bin by holding down the Ctrl key while delete a file, folder or other item. Observe the two screen shots to the right, it’s interesting to compare the relative size of the text ‘Recycle Bin’ with size of the bin icons. The knack is to combine the Ctrl key and the scroll key, so persist and believe this technique will resize all the icons. Click on the Windows 7 desktop, while the mouse button is depressed, hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key, now scroll the mouse wheel. Now that we have found where recycle bin went, and to prevent any more accidents, let us see how we can resize the desktop icons by scrolling the mouse. If you are interested in troubleshooting, and creating network maps, then I recommend that you try NPM now.ĭownload a free trial of Solarwinds’ Network Performance Monitor Its also has the ability to monitor the health of individual VMware virtual machines. What I like best is the way NPM suggests solutions to network problems. This utility will also guide you through troubleshooting the dashboard will indicate whether the root cause is a broken link, faulty equipment or resource overload. ![]() SolarWinds’ Orion performance monitor will help you discover what’s happening on your network. Guy Recommends: A Free Trial of the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) v11.5 Alternatively, now you know where recycle bin went, you could reverse this technique to hide this icon from the desktop. While you are perusing the Desktop Icon Settings, you could consider placing a tick next to Computer or even Control Panel. ![]() The bin will still have the same rubbish as when Mr Nobody deleted it. Your deleted recycle bin should now reappear on the Windows 7 desktop. Step-by-Step Instructions to Find My Lost Recycle Bin in Windows 7ġ) Right-click anywhere on the Windows 7 Desktop.Ģ) Click on Personalize from the short cut menu.ģ) Click on the link – Change desktop iconsĤ)At the Desktop Icon Settings, place a tick next to: ‘Recycle Bin’.
![]() Posey bounced back from his injury the season before winning the Silver Slugger Award for catcher, the NL Hank Aaron Award and the NL MVP awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Buster Posey was also named NL Comeback Player of the Year and received the Willie Mac Award from the San Francisco Giants. The same year, he was named a member of the All-Star Game and won his second World Series ring. ![]() On May 25, 2011, Posey fractured his fibula and tore ligaments after Scottish cousins of the Florida Marlins intentionally ended up in him. This caused Major League Baseball to adopt Rule 7.13 preventing runners from straying from their direct path to the plate so they could make contact with another person. Baseball America’s All-rookie team. He also appeared in the Giants’ won playoffs, earning Buster’s first World Series ring in the process. On June 9, 2010, Posey made his first career run in a game against the Cincinnati Reds and later became the starting catcher for the Giants at the end of the month. His first career grand slam came against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 7 and marked a ten-game losing streak. At the end of the season, the receiver picked up various awards and accolades, including NL Rookie of the Year, Outstanding Rookie from the NL Players Choice Awards. On September 11, 2009, in Buster Posey’s major league debut, he started his first game at bat and had his first major league hit eight days later. 326 batting average. Then he recorded five home runs, 28 RBI and one. 321 batting averages for the Fresno Grizzlies in 35 appearances. Professional baseball careerĪfter his selection by the Giants, Poseya signed a contract with a record signing bonus of $6.2 million. Buster spent time with the San Jose Giants of Minor League Baseball where he made 80 appearances and hit 13 home runs, 58 RBIs with a. 346 batting average. In his sophomore year, he was traded from shortstop to catcher. In his freshman year, he won the Johnny Bench Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, and the Golden Spikes Award for his outstanding efforts. ![]() ![]() Graduating fourth in his class of 302 students and with a 3.92 GPA, he was selected by the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim in the 2005 MLB draft, but chose to attend college at the square.Īt Florida State University, Posey was named Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American after finishing his freshman year with 4 innings and 48 RBI with a. 544 and 46 RBI in his freshman year. After his senior season, he recorded 14 home runs and a 12-0 win as a pitcher with 108 strikeouts, he was named Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, EA Sports All-American, and numerous other honors. Growing up, like many other kids his age, BusterPosey was involved in different sports aside from baseball. He played football, basketball and soccer. While in Lee County High School, he played seven home saves, nine doubles, three triples, and set a school record with an average of. ![]() ![]() ![]() The result is 16 slightly different levels you can scour for clues and objectives on repeat, until you acquire enough information to execute the murder spree that will take out all your targets in one fell swoop. Each time you complete one, time moves forward a notch. There are four separate, sprawling levels which can each be played at four different times of day. It can be exhilarating, even daunting, but Deathloop is not as ambiguous or free-flowing as it first appears. ![]() Unlike Arkane’s previous Dishonored trilogy, in which assassinations typically play out sequentially, Colt’s project requires learning about his targets’ routines and uncovering their secrets until he can come up with a way to murder them all in one day. To escape eternity, Colt needs to kill the AEON Program’s eight remaining leaders, some of whom have gained strange powers thanks to the anomaly powering the loop. ![]() Where other games might have veered into a ditch of grim melodrama, Deathloop swerves, holding just enough back to preserve the independence and richness of its leads. They’re two of Arkane’s best characters ever, elevated by two of the most memorable game performances in recent years, and aided by one of the period’s least cringy video game scripts to boot. In between bouts of killing each other they joke, they curse, and occasionally they make themselves movingly vulnerable with one another. Kelley and Ozioma Akagha respectively, Colt and Julianna are the heart anchoring Deathloop’s heady conceit. The setup is high-society James Bond meets the paranoia of The Prisoner with A Clockwork Orange’s hyper-violent menace coursing throughout, which is to say an excellent premise for a video game as long as you don’t think about it for too long. Julianna Blake, the only other Visionary whose memories carry over day to day, wants to stay, so she spends every day trying to hunt him down. They took over the island of Blackreef to leverage its anomaly for the shallow immortality of the time loop, and now Colt has betrayed them because he wants out. Colt was originally chief security officer for the AEON Program, a group of eccentric societal elites who call themselves Visionaries and command a cult-like army of masked lackeys called Eternalists. I wish the rest of the game was too.Īrkane Studios’ latest immersive murder sim plays like its predecessors but with an important new twist: you’re trapped on a mysterious island in a repeating 24-hour time loop. What felt like a blank canvas at first turned out to be a paint-by-numbers one, and the image eventually revealed felt like one I’d seen plenty of times before. Like its tragic hero, Colt Vahn, I also wanted to break the loop, if not so I could escape the purgatory of 1960s pastiche, then at least so I could put the game down, content in the knowledge that I had exhausted most of its possibilities. Not to a satisfying conclusion, but one I couldn’t turn away from. Up to a point.ĭying fuels its story and propels its fun. Some games have tried to mask this artifice in the service of more naturalistic storytelling. It’s written into the technology that builds them, the development practices that craft them, and often the very rules governing how they work: win-lose, trial and error. Video games are inescapably intertwined with iteration and do-overs. ![]() |