• Video Games

    Why Silence is The Great Strength of Dragon Quest III

    February 14, 2025 - By 

    Playing the recent HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III, it didn’t take long for me to realise that this game is special. At first, I attributed it to the stunning, ultra-detailed art style and soothing soundtrack, which has a nostalgic quality even for first time visitors to the Dragon Quest franchise. The magical journey to defeat the evil archfiend Baramos has never looked or sounded better. But I soon realised that there’s more to Dragon Quest III in what it – or rather, its central characters – leave unsaid.  The Silent Protagonist of Dragon Quest III A silent protagonist can…

  • Reviews - Video Games

    Control: My Spellbinding Time With Remedy’s Twisted Fairy Tale

    November 29, 2024 - By 

    Late to the Tea Party  I’m late to the party with Control. I had heard the combat was fun, but beyond that, it’s often been described to me as generic or uninteresting. I hadn’t really considered playing it until I found myself looking for something at least mildly scary to play this past October. Knowing it was developed by Remedy, the team behind Alan Wake, I considered myself set up for a spooky, if slightly dreary, time. What I got instead was a game that had me hooked from the get go, equal parts menacing, zany, and a blast to…

  • Video Games

    9 Ways Final Fantasy IX Stopped Me in My Tracks

    February 20, 2024 - By 

    This month, I finished playing my third Final Fantasy game – Final Fantasy IX. And I loved it! There was so much to enjoy about my journey across Gaia, but my biggest take away was how many times it took me by surprise, sometimes by doing the unexpected and other times by sticking to conventional JRPG fare but really excelling at it at the same time! Here are 9 ways Final Fantasy IX stopped me in my tracks: 1. Every Time Someone Said ‘Bastard’ I’m not sure why this was so jarring to me, possibly because FFIX is a very…

  • Books

    Three Studio Ghibli Movies that Transformed My Perspective on Book-to-Film Adaptations

    December 11, 2023 - By 

    I like to think I’m open minded when it comes to buying books, but there’s one type I always try to stay away from, the type of book that I even have a rule for: If you love the movie, stay far far away from the book it was based on. This rule wasn’t born overnight – it is the product of a long, sad history of reading the source material of my favourite movies. Apollo 13, The Jungle Books and even my beloved Lord of the Rings – they all followed one of two treacherous patterns. The movie was…

  • Books

    The Best Fantasy Novel You’ve Never Heard Of – Lud-in-the-Mist Review

    October 22, 2023 - By 

    There was a time where it felt like I couldn’t read a fantasy book without also reading about Lud-in-the-Mist. Whether it was in an introduction, an author biography or the Wikipedia page of the book I was currently reading, there would invariably be a mention of Hope Mirrlees’ only fantasy novel and the influence it had on all fantasy novels that followed...