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beautifulfearhorrorblog · 5 years

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Top 10 Horror Movie Guilty Pleasures:

In no particular order.

1) Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers (1992) - Okay so maybe the graphics don’t quite hold up nowadays, but they’re still the perfect amount of cheesiness. Sleepwalkers follows the mother-son duo Mary and Charles Brady, who are the aforementioned Sleepwalkers, an ancient species who prey on virginal females, needing to consume their life force. There’s a lot of weird sexual energy between the two and there is incest abound. Charles sets his sights on Tanya, one of his classmates, and while he does charm her, he doesn’t count on her being a formidable foe to the two of them. If you love cats, I’d highly recommend this film, seeing as how the Sleepwalkers find themselves enemies in the furry little creatures. It’s also slammed full of fun cameos, including King himself, amongst others like: Tobe Hooper, Clive Barker, Mark Hamill, and more.

2) Thirteen Ghosts AKA Thir13en Ghosts (2001)- How do you improve upon the gimmicky style of horror icon William Castle? Easy answer, you don’t. But that doesn’t mean that the remake to Castle’s 13 Ghosts (1960) is bad by any means. It’s one of my guiltiest pleasures. After a house fire takes the life of his wife, Arthur and his children are told by his late-uncle’s lawyer that he has inherited a beautiful house. The only problem? The house actually contains multiple spirits, spirits who, more often than not, are out for blood. Thirteen Ghosts is a fun reimagining, it even takes Castle’s original gimmick of Illusion-O (glasses that the audience could use, if they were brave enough to want to view the ghosts) and gives the glasses to the characters themselves, which honestly, is probably even more frightening for those poor souls. It’s the perfect amount of early 2000′s cheese and honestly, any movie starring Matthew Lillard is worth a view from me.

3&4) The Mummy & The Mummy Returns (1999 & 2001) - While 1999’s The Mummy is technically a remake/reboot of 1932’s The Mummy, it is more of an action film, rather than the horror that is the 1932 version. There are many purists who insist that the original is the very best, but I’m here to just say, I absolutely love and cherish the ‘99 version and its sequel The Mummy Returns. The films follow Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan and an assortment of other characters as they accidentally resurrect ancient evils that they should’ve known better about. There are bits of horrific imagery scattered throughout the films and that’s enough for me to count them amongst some of my favorite horror films. Even with those though, they are light-hearted films with such interesting subject matter.

5) Van Helsing (2004) - No one will claim Van Helsing is a masterpiece, and they aren’t wrong. But the movie is wonderful for what it is: an action-packed love letter to the horror monsters of our past. It’s no wonder that this movie holds a special place in my heart, it was directed by Stephen Sommers, the same man who directed both The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. It stars Hugh Jackman as the titular character, Abraham Van Helsing, as he hunts down Dracula. Along the way, Van Helsing comes across Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein’s Monster, and even a werewolf. The story is full of love for the characters and the Gothic aesthetic and, in my opinion, gives the monsters the respect they deserve. It is a must-watch for anyone who loves the monsters who came before us.

6) Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005) - Fun fact! Urban Legends: Bloody Mary was directed by Mary Lambert. Who’s Mary Lambert, you may ask? Only the director behind one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations, Pet Semetary (1989)! While this film does not have as much of a following, it still does right by me. The movie follows Sam and her brother David as they try to solve the mystery of Mary Banner, while the children of those responsible for Banner’s untimely death are killed off one-by-one. Being the third movie in the Urban Legend film series, this movie forgoes the slasher premise of the first two films, instead opting to go full supernatural. Some of the deaths have been used before in other films, but it doesn’t make them less effective, i.e; burning to death in a tanning bed will ALWAYS be terrifying. I also absolutely love the song heard throughout each death, “I Will Always Be There,’ performed to perfection by Niki Harris. It completely embodies the time period in which Mary’s innocence and life was lost, and it’s so bone-chillingly amazing.

7) 5ive Girls (2006) - 5ive Girls is a lesser known supernatural horror film helming from Canada. The only actor in it that is particularly well known is Ron Perlman. For that to be the case honestly sucks, because the acting is so criminally underrated in this film. 5ive Girls takes place at an all-girls Catholic school and follows five different girls along as they all discover they are powered and then immediately begin being possessed. There’s even a sweet romance that buds between two of the girls, Mara and Alex, but seeing as this is a horror movie, long-lasting love is never a guarantee. The film is a neat hidden gem and deserves more praise for the acting of all the young women, who nailed all of their characters wholly.

8) Stay Alive (2006) - A video game centered movie where if you die in the game, you die in real life? Sign me up. A movie loosely based upon one of the most prolific female serial killers ever known in history? Sign me up even more! Stay Alive never got the credit it deserved and to a degree that’s understandable; for a horror movie based around a group of gamers playing a game, none of them truly feel like they realistically game. The concept is there though and its villain is none other than the Blood Countess herself, Elizabeth Bathory, though her backstory was changed for the film. Bathory in real life was a Countess who was thought to have murdered up to 650 young girls to use their blood as a way of staying young, the movie sets her as a headmistress who murdered 30+ of her students for their youth. The change does not make much sense, but whatever works for the screenwriters works for me, because I still enjoy this movie so much. Sophia Bush’s, October, is a standout character in particular; she’s a take-no-crap type of woman who fights until her bitter end and she provides the rest of the characters with the keys in which to survive Bathory’s depraved game.

9) Final Destination 3 (2006) - The Final Destination series had a good run, mostly producing great films. One stands above the rest though, and that is Final Destination 3. The plot follows the same layout as the rest of the films, hot young people cheating death and then immediately learning the hard way that death doesn’t allow that sort of nonsense. FD 3 centers around Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, Wendy, having the standard vision of a deadly accident, this one being a rollercoaster flying off of its tracks. Winstead portrays Wendy as a somewhat prissy character, but honestly, the girl is smart and does stave off death for quite a while. The DVD for the film also offers one of the coolest bonus features: Choose Your Fate, which allows the viewer to help save lives and in some cases, end the film almost as soon as it starts, allowing the main characters to survive unscathed, though their fates later on aren’t exactly desirable either.

10) Beyond the Gates (2016) - An innovative and more recent horror film staring horror icon Barbara Crampton? Why isn’t this getting all of the praise it deserves? The film follows two brothers as they are clearing out their father’s video store, seeing as how he has been missing for over half a year. While there, they discover an old interactive VCR game entitled Beyond the Gates and are drawn to playing it. The game is more than it appears though and eventually the brothers find that it is much more than they bargained for. They must then go “beyond the gates” to save their father’s soul and themselves before it is too late. Crampton stars as the games guide, growing more menacing as the film progresses. The film is gorgeous with its retro aesthetic and fun neon colors. You’d be a fool to miss out on this piece.

#horror #stephen kings sleepwalkers #thirteen ghosts #the mummy #the mummy returns #van helsing #urban legends bloody mary #5ive girls #stay alive #final destination 3 #beyond the gates #horror guilty pleasures #horror movies #movie buff

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miyoron · 7 years

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Miyo’s Anime of Various Notes 2017 Edition

This year was a good year for anime. I liked a lot of shows this year and I thought I would write up another one of these! Again, they're in no order really!

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Dragon Maid

Dragon Maid as a series has definite problems. There's some kind of gross fan service and some really unhealthy feeling fetish stuff, especially from what I've heard and seen from manga snippets. However, despite all that, Kyoani was able to polish this show up into a nice little story about a dragon and her love for the woman who saved her life..and drank with her a lot out in the boonies one night. It's a really nice story though of a lonely person slowly getting a new lease on life with new friends who happen to be dragons. There's lots of good little character moments and it's nice that all of the characters grow as time go on really, even when one just plays MMOs all day and writes curse doujinshi. Also I can't listen to the opening theme without getting butterflies in my stomach from cute lovey doveyness.

Girls' Last Tour Girls' Last Tour takes place in the shell of a world that is on its last legs. There are crumbling buildings, technology long since in use and even the occasional grave site. Really, the world itself is kind of bleak, but the story of Chito and Yuuri is not an overtly sad one. It's the story of how as long as you have each other, you've got all you need in life. Seriously though, there are some good heart warming moments in here. The girl's have weirdly cute wide Hidamari Sketch style heads against the bleak background but it works really well. It has some really nice music too: the rain drops song in patricular is super duper chill and is just a joy to listen to.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie It's nice to see an anime about people my age, that might be why this one interested me at first. On top of that though, it's a show where one can find a lot of familiar stories, especially if you've touched an MMO at any point in time. First and foremost though, Recovery of an MMO Junkie is a story about relationships though and how helpful they can be. These don't pertain to just romantic ones of course. Friends are super helpful when you're having a bad time, and as the show goes on, you can see just how much the friends Moriko is making along the way mean to her. It's a cute little story with some very cute moments and character designs. Morimori-chan is one of my favorite characters this year and I support her in every way. Sakurai is also a very good boy of course.

Love Live Sunshine Season 2 Last year I had season 1 on my list and the trend continued this year. The girls in Aqours just seem so much more realistic in their struggles than Muse ever did in the original show. They don't always get what they want; life does not just throw out miracles like Chika wants it to. But they don't let it stop them, and the girls keep going because, to quote the opening "we got dream." Seriously though, I am consistently pleased with this show and it helps that my favorite girl got her own episode early on. Also the studio has FINALLY figured out how to make the CGI look good compared to the previous series' attempts. Good music, good girls, good show. It still has 2 more eps but I'm confident with placing it here in my shows of the year of note.

Little Witch Academia Little Witch Academia has been bouncing around through various OVAs for the past couple years, so it was nice to finally get to see this show...be an actual show. It has a few ups and downs, which mainly are wishing a few characters got more screen time, and one specifically LESS screen time, but it's a very nice show. It's got a fun doofy protagonist who is doing her best even though she is terrible at magic. It has a haughty rival, even though only Akko sees her as on the same level, a cute nerd pal who reads anime Twilight and a mushroom obsessed creepo who got vored by a slime monster. I really do not know what else you need me to say. It's by Trigger so it's beautiful to watch? It has a Moomin reference? You can see the dumb guy from Pawn Stars but anime? It's a really good show. Real good.

Restaurant to Another World This show is a guilty pleasure honestly. It's fun to see the weird fantasy creatures ordering, mostly Japanese, cuisine in an interplanetary restaurant, yes. The main draw though is seeing the wonderfully animated and drawn food though. Every week watching this just made me hungry and it was hard not to drool a lot of the time. The characters are all really fun, even if they're essentially all interspersed between episodes. Almost all of them get their own little spotlight episodes in conjunction with their favorite particular dish. Most of all, I'll never forget Restaurant to Another World for giving me so many furry vore retweets from a random image I got from an episode. It's a fun show you can watch in the background and just admire the tastiness. Just, you know, maybe eat dinner first.

Interviews with Monster Girls Interviews with Monster Girls is not Monster Musume, that's the thing I can stress the most about this. It's about a world where there are just...monster girls! Join our way-too-into-them sensei as he...tries to honestly just learn about the differences between the folklore surrounding various monsters and how it ties into how they actually live in society. Also root on for a succubus as she tries to just let her mature woman side fly. It's very rough being a succubus in a super packed society did you know? Seriously though, it's a nice little show that oddly has more continuity than you'd think since it's not just an episodic 4koma style show. It's also got a dumb vampire with a shirt that has a cape design on the back, it's great.

Kira Kira Precure a la Mode This was the first Precure I've watched as it was on-going so it's been a fun ride. It has a bunch of magical girls who are also animals but ALSO are desserts. It also has some of most fun looking CGI I've seen in anime before, but that seems to be what Precures are good at so it's not that surprising for series veteran watchers I'm sure. Either way, it's a good story about friends and fairies and sweets. It's made me want to bake dumb anime cookies for an upcoming con and fill them with kira*kiraru. It has a really fun ending theme too...well both of them really. I'll look forward to see what the Precures are up to next in the coming series, but I'll never forget these girls.

Umaruchan R I liked the original Umaru season well enough, but the second season has really been going all in on the fun. On top of that, a lot of the characters have gotten more screen time and more character development even. We learn more about Sylphin, Kirie and Ebina, and Umaru and Taihei's sibling relationship is shown to be a lot nicer too. It's not like before where she was always just a terrible brat trash girl, now she's just that SOME of the time. You can tell they really love each other though, and not in a gross way that other anime like to do with siblings. Also it's shown just how being friends has helped the other girls, and even Umaru herself really. It's a good show and I'm glad that it managed to get better on its second at bat.

Big Gold Star Show

Kemono Friends Kemono Friends is...well It's not really a good show. It has a hilariously low budget and even worse CGI. It's a lot like a picture drawn by your 5 year old where it's not fine tuned yet but it makes you feel kind of good anyway. It has some really cute character designs of this bunch of doofy animals that are just living their lives. Whether it's going to battle every day against their long time rival, wandering ruins looking for coins or just singing to their hearts content, there is something about the Friends that just makes you root for them. It's not a show you need to watch, but you might just like it if you do. Sugoooooi~

Old Anime of the Year

These are shows that I watched that didn't necessarily come out this year but that's when I watched them. It's pretty simple!

Osomatsu-san Sheeeh! I watched this one on the recommendation of a buddy. A remake of a series from the 1960's about sextuplet brothers modernized into terrible dirtbag NEETs. This show is full of weird, often gross, things, but there's something about its manic humor that just speaks to me. The brothers are terrible terrible terrrrrible boys but you can find good points about them too. I've been watching season 2 as well this season so this will probably carry over into next year as an old anime of the year. Sooo...let's just say Osomatsu-san is an Old Anime of the Year 2016-2018. Ok? Cool!

Yuri on Ice I had this on last year's list of shows to look into and I'm very glad I continued it. It tells a really good story about gaining confidence and learning to feel good about yourself. Yuuri's journey along the way is wonderful. Because of that, this is another series I'm looking forward to the second season of to see where it goes. My only complaint was that it was a little repetitive but that's probably how sports anime go huh? I liked watching the routines and listening to the songs. It also has a great cast of side characters like Chris with the great butt, the weird vampire guy and Phichit, your best friend. There's also J.J. who is full of himself, sure, but there's just something fun about him still. Here's to more ice boys!

Konosuba Konosuba is a series full of lovable dummies. Like...execeptionally dumb. Like..super..SUPER dumb. But that's really what's so fun about them. I had some Ah! My Goddess vibes with the series' set up except Aqua is a much much much more flawed goddess than Belldandy ever was. Seriously though, this series takes the isekai/reborn in another world from our world genre and takes it in a direction that's actually fun instead of retreading the same old stories. It's got explosion mages, it's got really awkward paladins and it has a very put on dullahan who just wants to have his evil schemes go the way he planned. I need to watch season 2 still, and if it's more of the same, I'm in for sure.

Heart Catch Precure This show was actually my first Precure several years ago, but my buddy and I didn't finish it before. Since we had been watching the new show, we decided to double up and watch both of them at the same time. Heart Catch is honestly a delight and has some of the things I like most in a magical girl show. It has fun heroes, it has really doofy villains and it has a whole lot of heart. It's episodic sure, but it has a really great art style that just makes it even more endearing to me. Also, episodic magical girls with dumb monsters is why I loved the original Sailor Moon anime. I also enjoy that the Precures just punch and dropkick things as their first course of action. You just can't step to a magical girl that's gonna just pop you in the jaw.

Ugh show?

Gabriel Drop Out I don't know whether to call this show an UGH show or just an ultimately lame one. I know it definitely is a 1 or 1.5 character show though. The best character is sweet dumb demon Satania who the show seems completely content to just dump on whenever it has the chance. I do not appreciate that anime. I don't at all. Please do not bully this sweet evil girl because she does not deserve it. This show was not as heinous as last year's Kuma Miko, but one of the characters is for sure a bad bad ugh one.

Anime to Check Out

I have a few shows I've had on my list to look at, mostly on my Crunchy Roll queue that I haven't gotten on due to a crazy good Fall season/laziness. Here they are!

Alice to Zoroku I watched the first episode of this back in the summer and I didn't take the time to finish it up. I plan to fix that in the coming year since I like the premise and I really liked the old man especially. I look forward to learning more about them in the future!

The Ancient Magus' Bride This one I've mostly seen interesting looking pics of so I'm curious. I like cool skeleton wizard looking things and anime. This seems reasonable enough to me.

One Punch Man This is still happening right? Yea, definitely gonna watch that.

#MiyosDumbAnimeList #DragonMaid #GirlsLastTour #NetJuu #LoveLiveSunshine #LittleWitchAcademia #RestauranttoAnotherWorld #InterviewswithMonsterGirls #KiraKiraPrecureAlaMode #UmaruchanR #KemonoFriends #Konosuba #YuriOnIce #Osomatsusan #HeartCatchPrecure

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adventuresinlibraries · 5 years

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Baby Monkey, Private Eye

Baby Monkey Private Eye

Written by: David Serlin

Illustrated by: Brian Selznick

Scholastic Press, New York, NY

2018

Lexile Score: 210

Reading Level Grade: 1.5

Guided Reading Level: F

It's a picture book! It’s a graphic novel, It's a chapter book! It’s a mystery book, It’s an easy reader!

WAIT!

It’s all of the above!

This genre-smushing spectacular should be pictured in the dictionary if “sophistacute” ever becomes a word.

It arrived in the mail, and the envelope thudded onto the table with all the heft of a novel. I opened it and withdrew a tiny hardcover. And Baby Monkey waved at me from the cover, holding a magnifying glass bigger than it is.

Baby Monkey has big wide eyes and looks as cute as most baby monkeys do. My first surprise was how head over heels I could fall for a hand-drawn creature. Selznick uses his characteristic detailed pencil drawing to carefully shade in the monkey on the cover. The tiny strokes that make up its fur render an incredible level of complexity to the creature. Red letters announce the title and contrast with the cute big-eared main character. I opened the book, intrigued.

From the heft of the novel I expected a chapter book and found my second surprise.

The font is enormous.

It stands in stark, easily discernable contrast, black letters on a blank white page. The words are always on their own, never obscured by the illustrations. This effective use of white space makes it easier for young eyes to track the letters and young minds to grasp the meaning of the words.

The first word is WAIT!

I held my breath.

Then the heading for the prologue appeared,

“Who is Baby Monkey?

The prologue asks and answers that question using only 16 words.

In this way, the book successfully fulfills the requirement of an early reader and introduces the main character at the very beginning. Between the cover art and the introductory information, we know quickly that Baby Monkey is the heartbeat of this mighty book.

After the prologue is the table of contents. The reader can see there are five chapters, a key, an index, and a bibliography.

The font on the table of contents subtly reminded me of the font in other easy readers, most notably, Frog and Toad. Its smaller size contrasted with the giant letters in the prologue. This makes the tiny table of contents easy to breeze through and drives more page turns Before a young reader has time to get intimidated they flip the page, looking for our hero. And, Selznick and Serlin get down to business.

Each chapter follows a formula. The mystery is introduced. Baby Monkey offers to help. Baby Monkey looks for clues. Baby Monkey writes notes. Baby Monkey eats a snack. Baby Monkey puts on pants (this part is difficult and pretty silly.) and Baby Monkey solves the case! Towards the end of the book, Baby Monkey gets tired and needs a nap.

The text in this easy reader is simple and repetitive. Suited to ages 4-6 the large font and fomulaic plot may be simple but the illustrations keep will keep readers entertained. It carries a predictable rhythm from one chapter to the next and children will be thrilled to fly through the 191 pages in this book. (Have I told you about how much I love chapter books that inspire confidence in readers and help transition them to longer stories? No? Well, consider this your notification.) This is in some ways a transitional chapter book because of its length even though the text is still very simple.

The final chapter has Baby Monkey searching for a baby. This high-stress scenario is different from most of the other cases Baby Monkey has worked but has a surprise ending reminiscent of other books young readers may have loved.

This book does what Brian Selznick did best in Hugo Cabret. It transcends its genre with every stroke and shadow of the detailed and masterful illustrations.

The illustrations provide really interesting clues to the action. A careful reader might notice that the pictures of Baby Monkey’s office change to foreshadow the client who needs private eye services. The first client is an opera star and the pictures on the wall are all opera-themed.

The next client, a pizza chef, walks into an office festooned with pictures of the “Mona Lisa”, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a map of Italy, and a movie poster for “The Italian Job.”

Any guess as to the third client?

This device encourages analytical thinking and close “reading” of the pictures, a great skill for beginning readers to practice. The key at the end offers the titles and metadata for the paintings, sculptures, and photographs decorating the room. Also, in each office photo, right before the client enters, Baby Monkey is reading. These books are listed in the bibliography and the author’s names are a hoot.

Now, I have heard the book described as a graphic novel. I don’t know if it completely fits because the illustrations are not in panels. But the entire story is told primarily through the drawings. So, in this case, it is an illustrated novel. Each time the thief is caught Baby Monkey identifies them through a speech bubble, a graphic novel convention, and the illustration is the only clue to their identity.

Another aspect of Baby Monkey Private Eye that was captivating was Selznick’s development of suspense to encourage the reader to keep turning pages. He consistently used the point of view of the characters and their expressions to point the reader toward the material on the next page. Baby Monkey and the clients are often looking of leaning toward the page turn. In the middle of each chapter, before the antagonist is revealed, Selznick draws a trail, of footprints heading off the page toward the end of the book. This is just one example of the way the image can push the reader while providing key information at the same time.

Baby Monkey is a character children can empathize with. I mean, not much is cuter than a baby monkey. In addition, Baby Monkey’s gender is generic. It is always “Baby Monkey” and never “he” or “she” so all children can secretly picture themselves in Baby Monkey’s story.

It was hard to find read-a-likes for Baby Monkey. This book was so very unique. But I found a few tie ins: similar subjects, similar illustrations, and a genre spin-off.

An obvious pick was the Babymouse series.

Babymouse #1 Queen of the World

Jennifer & Matthew Holm

December 2005

Random House Books for Young Readers

Ages 7-10

Lexile Level- GN (Graphic Novel) 470L

Babymouse is a fun little series for kids who like cute creatures. In this book, Babymouse wants to attend the slumber party of the super-popular queen bee, (um,, excuse me, queen mouse) Felicia Furry Paws. Babymouse must negotiate her way out of a movie marathon with her best friend, Wilson. This fast-paced little book is funny and sweet and full of literary allusions. The text is tiny so readers who are just beginning might have a little trouble. But this is a great book to read alongside a guide. And, Babymouse, with her wild imagination and even wilder whiskers, is sure to inspire a giggle in anyone who reads along.

Night of the Gargoyles

Written by Eve Bunting

And illustrated by David Wiesner

Clarion Books,

1999

Lexile Measure 910

This creepy book about gargoyles will satisfy older children who enjoyed the pictures in Baby Monkey but who are looking for content that is more mature. The illustrations of the highly detailed creatures who come to life have some of the qualities of Selznick’s images and do a lot with tone, shading, and contrast. So much can be done with a pencil, and the gorgeous descriptive language used in this book only adds to its complexity. This book is also a lot in common with Where the Wild Things Are by Sendak.

Taking the theme of mysteries a little farther you could point younger readers at

Enigma- A Magical Mystery

By: Graeme Base

Abrams Books for Young Readers; 1st edition

September 2008

Grandpa Badger is a magician but his props and bunny have gone missing. Kids who liked Baby Monkey will appreciate the signature style that can belong to no one but Base. The pictures have lots of things to find and the busy pages and extensive picture puzzles will keep kids busy until the thief is caught.

And, if your kids just want to monkey around, there is always

Grumpy Monkey

By Suzanne and Max Lange

Random House Books for Young Readers

2018

The title character in this New York Times bestselling book explores why he is feeling grumpy. The other characters in the jungle try and help him cheer up by systematically working through solutions and reasons that Jim might be cross.

Happy Reading!

#picture-book easy reader

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minhthangcoi9993-blog · 6 years

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Review Game Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

By spreading its sails and taking the journey to a creative and interesting setting, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire finds fertile ground for interesting and nuanced roleplaying stories. The main storyline is its biggest weakness, but Deadfire comes into its own by drawing you into the surrounding saga of its embattled islands and the distinct peoples fighting over them. This island chain offers no shortage of fantastic tactical battles, fascinating allies, and exotic places to explore.

2015’s Pillars of Eternity is a love letter to the Baldur’s Gate school of classic isometric RPG, presented in the classic sword-and-sorcery style: a dark and thought-provoking adventure with elves, dwarves, plate mail, and fireballs. Deadfire, on the other hand, strikes a bold contrast and ditches most of these tropes for a less common style. By minimizing castles and forests in favor of a beautiful ocean and boats, and the sword-and-shield aesthetic for sabers and blunderbusses, Deadfire’s 40-hour campaign almost feels like it takes place in a completely different world from the original despite the fact that it stars the same Watcher of Caed Nua character we originally played as.

You can even import your old save file or simulate one with a text-based Mass Effect-style quiz that gives you the character history you want (not necessarily the one you deserve). The consequences of certain major decisions in the original are very acutely felt in Deadfire, starting with the very first conversation as the gods themselves offer an accounting of your character’s past actions.

Gone is the static, painted overworld of the first Pillars, replaced instead by an atmospheric open ocean map upon which you sail your customizable ship freely from island to island and quest to quest. This interactive overworld is littered with scripted events and treasures to find, springs crew interactions on you at random. You can also be attacked by pirates, or privateers from rival factions, though the turn-based naval battles are so basic as to feel shoehorned in and not much fun. Those lengthy interruptions made sailing times stretch on longer than I’d like, and the expensive upgrades, like new sails for my ship, barely made a perceptible difference when it came to outrunning threats.

The main story of the voyage you embark upon in Deadfire is similarly prone to moments of feeling rudderless. You’re on a quest to chase down the newly revived god of light and retrieve your soul, something you’re given little incentive to do beyond simply being told it is necessary. The plot waits far too long to add enough context to your chase to give substantial motivation for partaking in it, considering you seem to be getting by just fine without. Fast progress, and the answer to the all-important question of “why is this important,” are gated behind enemies and areas so challenging that they demand you and your party be of a certain level that is usually far beyond where you currently are when you first encounter them.

However, that need to get stronger drove me to pursue the sidequests and tertiary plots, and this is where the writing of Deadfire truly began to shine. The main plot is surrounded by the intriguing and thoughtful open-world flavor of a region entering the crucible of historical change. At first, it was the tempting XP rewards that compelled me to seek out and explore the different islands, but after spending time among their people, appreciating the distinctive architecture of each village, learning about their different cultures, and hearing about their visions for the future of the diverse island chain, I found myself drawn into and invested in these small local problems much more than I was with the big one looming over my head.

Play more Skater Rush

123 Games

The tale of the Deadfire is the story of everyone in it, and you can encounter an ocean of stories across an expanse in a state of upheaval, with several complex and ambitious factions seeking to steer it a particular way. It isn't long before their leaders pitch you on their endgame and seek your allegiance, and the quests that arise from these calls for aid are the best in Deadfire. The Huana, the natives of the Deadfire Archipelago, seek to preserve their independence and their way of life against what amounts to the colonial intrusion of the other powers, but some caste-based aspects of the culture they seek to preserve are deeply flawed. The Valians seek to greedily exploit the potent natural resources of the islands, but if allowed to do so might bring about revolutionary progress. The Rauatai seek to unify the Deadfire islands with their nation to create a greater Aumaua empire, even if they have to do it by the sword and the cannon. If you prefer more mischief and less politics, you can always back the pirates, but even they have their own internal power struggle brewing as the older and more conservative pirate captains face off against younger reformers.

Obsidian’s writers seem to have gone out of their way to deny us moral certainty and create meaningful decisions, because matter who you side with some people will benefit and some will get hurt. This hits even harder when you’re exposed to the consequences of your choices first-hand. The existence of the Huana cast system isn’t an simply an entry in the codex; it’s a reality for many poor and destitute Aumaua who turn to you for help. The ethically dubious land acquisition of the Vailians isn’t just something heard about in a conversational aside, it’s a problem its victims seek your aid in resolving. Deadfire’s writing of these situations is a sterling example of the “show, don’t tell” maxim. Because I was given the pros and cons of my allegiance with faces, names, and stories, the impact of my decisions was never far from my mind.

Faction quests aren’t the only place to find compelling and complicated situations in the Deadfire Archipelago. While plenty of NPCs are simply background decoration, many residents of this dangerous land are fully voiced and fleshed-out people with pressing tasks and problems stemming from the major events happening around them. Whether it’s reuniting a lost family member with his loved ones or trying to save (or condemn) a poor refugee family seeking a better life, the stories are varied and carry real emotional heft. This is aided in no small part by the tremendous feat of roleplaying immersion Deadfire pulls off; this world, and its people, have long memories, and they interact with you through the lens of a past your character may have had a substantial role in. People I helped early on either showed up later to vouch for me or sang my praises to other characters I hadn’t yet encountered. Something as simple as helping a stranded missionary fix his broken wagon early on had effects that echoed throughout my entire playthrough. A seemingly innocuous conversation about the gods that I had with another individual turned out to be a defining moment for an entire group’s worldview.

Similarly, in typical Obsidian RPG fashion, dialogue choices are heavily influenced by character stats, making which ones you choose to invest in feel like an important choice no matter how you play. My skills list and my character's reputation came up in nearly every interaction, with unique dialogue options available if I was good enough at an activity like diplomacy or sleight of hand, or had a good enough reputation with a certain group or just as an individual, or was from a particular place or race. So deep and varied are these opportunities for diverse roleplaying that they offer tremendous replayability just to see how these experiences might diverge if a totally different Watcher stars in them. At one point, I got out of a situation that seemed destined for conflict because my Watcher possessed a silver tongue and a gift for reading other people. Would a happy ending have instead turned to bloodshed if I played a crueler, more coarse character? My Watcher became adept at socializing and skullduggery, but his lack of survival skills made him a fish out of water in the uncharted terrain of Deadfire's islands. Party members can lend an assist with skills of their own, but this is usually only enough to get over a hump; it doesn’t fully compensate for a complete lack of competence in any one area. This opened new encounters and outcomes to me and closed others entirely. An encounter with a reclusive tribe of xaurips can either end in a fight, or an amicable parting with some loot. A Watcher who is unable to intimidate a group of thugs into backing down might make a stubborn enemy. Sometimes, it stuck in my craw to see a situation spin out of my control, or end in a way I was desperate to avoid simply because I’d invested in the wrong skills, but this was more than balanced out by the feeling of satisfaction I received from solving an intimidating problem with my core competencies. This is an RPG that’s unafraid to take the character you’ve chosen to build and make you stand by them.

Obsidian’s writers’ talent for writing characters is on full display once again as Deadfire debuts a handful of new party members and carries over a few from the original (assuming they’re still around in your story), all of whom are all extremely well written and developed with complex and often conflicting motivations for tagging along. Returning companion Eder is as charming and sympathetic as ever, resuming his role as the group’s moral compass, and the furry blue brigand Serafen is positively oozing with personality, always ready with one-liner or savage insult. They aren’t going to agree with every decision you make, or with each other. If tensions between party members rise high enough, fights can break out between companions, full-on arguments with “them or me” undertones. I never found myself unable to juggle the personality clashes that arose between my companions, but these conflicts were handled in such a way that I truly felt pressured to closely manage my parties’ relationships with each other, not just with me. I actually felt like the leader of this motley bunch, not because the story simply dictated it, but because I had to participate in the work of keeping a group together.

It was rewarding to see my influence bleed over into my relationships with my companions and then see the changes I had wrought in their worldviews and personalities play out with each other. When one character who possessed a tremendous faith in the gods had a heated religious argument with another companion I’d steered away from their faith in the first Pillars, it struck me that the dialogue choices I clicked had real consequences. It was this exchange that gave me the sense Obsidian’s writers are on the verge of something truly special with writing these characters and fitting them into its stories.

They fall just short in Deadfire, though, with the lack of control afforded to you over the timing of these revelatory moments of character development. Too often, important conversations would begin immediately following another conversation in a way that felt awkward and unrealistic — or, in the worst cases, right after a major fight when the entire party was severely injured and/or in the midst of a dangerous eldritch dungeon, making a confession of growing affection or a heated debate about metaphysical ethics come off as entirely inappropriate, even humorous. I was left painfully aware that, no matter how artfully it was done, the companion relationship system was still reducing my relationships with my party members to a number that existed outside the context of anything that might be going on.

Those dungeons, islands, and luminous other machines sure look pretty, though. Deadfire is a very, very good looking isometric RPG, presenting a gorgeous fusion of 3D and 2D elements to create memorable scenes of a quality you don't often find in games that use this perspective. The monster design is fantastic, from smooth and oily-looking krakens to the gorgeous and varied elemental dragons. The water textures and lighting are some of the best I've seen in isometric RPGs, and the jungles and deserts are so well done that when my companion character complains about sand getting into unmentionable places, I believe them. I was never jarred out of my enjoyment on entering a new area by low texture quality or a graphical hiccup, which is often an issue in similar engines.

Deadfire's pausable real-time combat is its most fun, challenging, and energetic element. Enemy parties and the opponents themselves present almost a puzzle of sorts — a maze of resistances, proficiencies, and damage types that you and your party must navigate in order to effectively counter them. A key tool in doing so is the single best quality-of-life fix that Deadfire introduces to the established Pillars formula: the extensive AI scripting allowed for each character. Reminiscent of the system from Dragon Age: Origins, you can set up a complex list of AI priorities that ensures that your companions and even your own character respond the way you want them to when a given situation arises in a fight. Though combat can always be paused in order to click from character to character and give orders, battles feel much smoother, and are much more fun, when you can count on your priest to deliver timely healing or your wizard to unleash his most devastating spells you’ve been saving for a tight spot, instead of forgetting to perform said actions and watching a winnable battle end in defeat.

Though the scripting does have some notable limitations — I couldn’t figure out a way to script a Cipher to build up enough focus for some of their best optional subclass abilities, which seems like a significant oversight — it adds a new layer of depth to an already smoother, better balanced, and better animated combat system, making each encounter a treat to take on. In many cases, I didn’t mind losing a particularly tough battle because it gave me the chance to make any number of tweaks to strategy, scripting, and loadout in an effort to alter the outcome. Replaying a tough boss battle became less a chore and more of a charm.

The Verdict Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire improves upon the Pillars of Eternity formula in nearly every way, creating an RPG loaded with both strong combat and important, character-defining choices that frequently have an impact on your numerous and deep side-story adventures. A refreshingly different island setting makes it feel dramatically distinct, though travel can be laborious because of unavoidable and repetitive nautical encounters. From a long list of quality-of-life upgrades to a new and impressive attention on companions and their relationships and an astonishing commitment to immersive storytelling and roleplaying, this sequel takes a strong step forward past its predecessor and presents exciting possibilities for the genre going forward.

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