Author: torstenvblog

Writer of the strange and everything; lover of horror, literature, comics, and the alien is my spirit animal

Dawn of Fear trailer

Savior told me of a game to check out as he frequently does ( now available on PSN) and I have to admit, the look and old school controls is seriously reminiscent of classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill. While it looks like your enemies are typical zombies, the atmosphere looks like a brighter Spencer mansion from the first Resident Evil game. If you want a classic horror throwback, this doesn’t seem like a bad game. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fantasy Island trailer

I may be way late to the party on this one but once I pieced this together I found myself truly baffled. Why would Blumhouse think it was a good idea to reboot a old TV show as a PG-13 horror movie? I’m really asking what the hell they were thinking after the success of Halloween (2018) and Us . May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

I am so damn confused by this trailer. I know what it is- the latest Saw movie- but I can’t tell if it’s a spin off or sequel. Also the title is just bizarre. Saw is a part of most of my teen years as well as many other horror fans but enough is enough, with this being the 9th installment in a franchise that shouldn’t have been. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Disney+ MCU series spot

So we’ve been hearing about the new MCU series included with the th phase of the MCU and during the Superbowl we got our first sneak peaks at Falcon and Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki. First, I have to say I’m extremely excited for WandaVision; Scarlet Witch is one of my favorite characters in the MCU and I was thrilled to see that she will be prominent in Dr Strange 2 and WandaVision seems to dig into her psyche. I’m kinda excited to see what Sam and Bucky are up to in Falcon and Winter Soldier. I’m disappointed by the offering from Loki. In the end, I’m surprisingly invested and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

FF7 remake theme trailer

I haven’t followed much of what’s been going on with the FF7 remake, except for the delays, but I must admit the graphics are stunning. The world looks brilliantly re-imagined and the characters look great. While I’m not fimilair with the classic game, the plot sounds solid and I’d definitely give it a shot. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Hunger

hunger

In a quest to find my own literally voice and advance as a writer, I’ve had the pleasure of reading some pretty unexpectedly good books such as This is What you Want, This is What you Get after meeting the author and being able to help our mutual friend Billy Kraser ( Sticks:A tool in Time saga). Nonstop Amazon recommended this book to me and finally, I admit, because of the price and the alluring cover I decided to check it out, not knowing a damn thing about what it was about. Sometimes you can judge a book by it’s cover.

How many of us are fimilair with the story of the Donner Party? An early American tragedy of a ill fated journey of pioneers who got lost in the midst of a brutal winter during the 1840’s and resorted to cannibalism in a failed resort to stay alive. But what if there was something more to it, something sinister and supernatural? Is it a disease? Is a ancient curse in the untamed woods? Is it sheer madness that causes the Donner Party to turn on each other as they are stalked through this perilous journey while the threat swells from inside.

I have to say, I loved this book and found it a very cool read. It’s a slow burn kind of horror read which I enjoyed because there is some really creepy moments and a ending that had me on edge. The different characters are well developed and a few times I was surprised at there fates. The monsters are ambiguous, somewhere between the fabled wendigo and a Deadite from Evil Dead, but the story does well at making you wonder what form the “creatures” actually take.  Alma Katsu, the author, has a nice flow to her writing and I give her credit for making a period piece that feels legitimate but not pretentious as some would. In the end, if you want a good solid horror book that builds with good characters and a cool premise, I highly recommend this book. I’ll drop a link for it on Amazon and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Stargirl trailer 1

It’s pretty impressive how large of a scope the CW’s DC universe but over the past few years I’ve wondered why who asked for shows devoted to Black Lightning and Batwoman and I have to wonder why Stargirl. The trailer looks alright as their answer to the MCU’s Captain Marvel but it also looks kinda meh. While I’m drastically out of sync with what’s going in there universe, it’ll be interesting to see how this new addition plays out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Zombie Army 4 , 101 trailer

Zombie Army Trilogy is one of Savior and I’s favorite co-op games, so I was shocked how in depth the fourth game overhauls the classic. So far, I’m hyped for the new customizable weapons and gory new enemy types. Besides that, I’m glad we are getting more varied locales and the game looks to be keeping the classic Grindhouse feel. This very well might be a birthday surprise to myself this year for sure. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Code Vein

code vein

For Black Friday this year, I bought myself a game me and a few of my friends have been waiting for. What if you took the beauty and story of a anime and combined it with the gameplay style of a Souls game? Let’s find out.

In Code Vein we awaken as a Remnant in the wake of a brutal vampire war between the Revenants and the Lost., having to piece our memories together. The Revenants are struggling to keep there hunger for blood at bay and maintain there humanity while the Lost are vampires who have mutated into viscous monsters. With your allies Louis, Ios, Mia and Yakumo you have to traverse a broken dystopian odyssey in search of peace and to destroy the cause of the madness…

First, I have to say, I thought originally this game was going to be a Souls ripoff with a anime skin and a few kinks thrown in much like the The Surge or Lords of the Fallen (PS4) felt, but that quickly goes away. This game and how you approach combat is extremely versatile because of the Blood Codes, which is series of attacks and abilities based on another character where you can mix and match.  Your partners also provide extra attack power and defense with pretty decent AI so they thankfully do there job. What really sells the game is the art style and the overall story which is pretty captivating. A flaw the game has with all the options and having a optional partner can feel a bit overwhelming and the game can feel a bit too easy with few difficulty spikes that are pretty easy to overcome. Another minor issue I have is while impressive to look at, none of the bosses really stand out and for the most part they go down fairly easy. In the end, Code Vein is a pretty epic game with a good story and extremely versatile gameplay that I definitely recommend, especially if you want to wade into Souls type games. May the gaming gods bring you glory.