Almost 2 years ago I briefly posted about Magic Dance’s newest release at the time, Vanishings. It should have been a full review, as that album ended up being an absolute monster due to the guitar work, vocals, and everything else. Needless to say my expectations for the next album, New Eyes, were unbelievably (and unfairly) high. It didn’t help any when the first song, When Nothing’s Real, was released on Youtube. That song easily matched anything off of Vanishings, and it set the tone for what I expected.
That ended up being a bit of a mis-step for Magic Dance, I think, because the next song released on Youtube, These Four Walls, was such a massive change. My initial listen left me confused and irritated. But, I gave it some time and came back, trying to listen to it as if it was the first time I’d ever be listening to Magic Dance. And you know what? I really liked it! Yeah it wasn’t as hard-hitting or left my heart pounding like When Nothing’s Real, but it was overall a damn good rock song. At that point I was hoping the rest of the album would follow in its steps.
The third song to be released on Youtube, and the last before the album’s release, was Never Go Back. This one was even softer than the previous two, more pop than rock. But, it did have those great rhythm guitars and vocals; it was still unmistakably Magic Dance. Having listened to these three songs quite a few times, I felt better prepared and anticipating the rest of the album.
New Eyes has ended up being a very solid release, but I consider it to have some growing pains. It’s clear founder Jon is taking Magic Dance in new directions, with now a full band working with him on both the album and live shows. I couldn’t say if this affected how he created these new songs, but I feel there have been some sacrifices as well as simplifying, whereas I wanted more and better vocal harmonies (go back and listen to Still Haunting Me; it still reigns supreme!) and some more intricate guitar playing and solos (I don’t think Tim Mackey got to contribute anywhere near as much on New Eyes, and I could tell). I’m happy to hear Jon continuing to write new music with a full band, but my hope is with more live shows by the time they make the next album they’ll push themselves a little more!
One of Goblinoid Games’ recent releases, Apes Victorious, arrived with very little if any hinting or fanfare. As a one-man operation (although now often with additional writing by Tim Snider and even material from original Starships and Spacemen author Leonard H. Kanterman) Dan Proctor rarely promotes/updates his work on the now-bare GG website, let alone the blog and near-dead forums. Once the shining star of the OSR, so many others have risen in popularity and taken over where the founding OSR authors began. Is it worth taking a look or even purchasing this recent Goblinoid Games RPG, especially something in as niche in genre as intelligent apes?
Initial Impressions
In contrast to all previous releases, the first thing I immediately noticed about Apes Victorious is that it’s set in 6″x9″ rather than U.S. letter-sized. Moving to this size (and 1 column) will certainly make this easier to read on a tablet, though it does of course bump up the page-count.
Like most other recent GG releases this game is exclusively illustrated by Mark Allen; thankfully I haven’t tired of his work and think it works perfectly, though I would still love to see stuff from Peter Mullen and/or other (perhaps even new!) artists as well. I know artwork isn’t cheap; perhaps Dan and Mark have a great deal worked out, who knows. Sadly this is somewhat addressed in the game’s forward, where Dan notes this is the first game to come after Steve Zeiser’s death, and that he would have otherwise contributed artwork.
The title and header font is unique, if also a tad hard to read at a brief glance. The rest is the traditional B/X Souvenir, which is fine if a tad boring at this point. Tables are fairly easy to read, although they utilize a multiple-row highlighting/shading which still throws me off.
Introduction (Game)
Apes Victorious is a post-apocalyptic game. But unlike Mutant Future and so many other similar games in that genre, it doesn’t focus too much on radiation and doesn’t mention mutations, etc. A third world war devastated the planet and brought in a nuclear winter. The end of that winter brought about many changes, both to the planet itself and its inhabitants.
Humans were split at the onset of the nuclear winter: those who remained on the surface, and those who retreated underground and were safe within their constructed homes and shelters. These latter human evolved differently than their primal cousins, advancing in technology and even developing PSI powers. Meanwhile apes, gorillas, orangutans, etc. also evolved and have gained intelligence as they built their own settlements and societies, coming into conflict with both human groups.
Of course the planet has changed as well, much of it either still radiated from the nuclear winter or left as barren desert. Only small areas have regained plants and foliage, but where there is more water and plant life has seen animals and other features return in both familiar and unexpected ways.
The rest of the game’s introduction goes over RPG basics such as die rolls and terms used. Of course in this game the person running things is called Ape Master; ugh I’ll just stick to Gamemaster, thanks!
Characters
The basic Abilities (I still tend to call them Attributes) are the same as in other OSR games, with the addition of Psionic Potential (PSI). So far it seems pretty simple, then I look at the Ability dodifiers table; it’s not just the standard one column of -3 to +3 or such; there are five different columns/categories of modifiers for the range of Ability scores! Whyyyyyy?! At first I thought it negated the need for saving throws, but I looked ahead and nope those are still in the game. So that’s another table I’ve gotta bookmark and/or put on a GM screen to remember…
Apes Victorious has seven classes: Astronaut, Bonobo Agent (total nitpick but this should have been page-breaked), Chimpanzee Scholar, Gorilla Soldier, Humanoid, Orangutan Politician, and Underdweller. Like other OSR games there’s a Ability requirement for each class, as well as a 1E-like Ability adjustment. All but one class (Astronaut) also have a maximum level. After getting used to BRP RPGs and Stars Without Number Revised, it’s almost comical to see the tens if not hundreds of thousands of experience points needed to advance in levels.
Money and coins are expressed as simian copper, simian silver, and simian gold. Can you hear me roll my eyes? Just keep it copper pieces, etc. jeeeez. Of course if you’re an Astronaut you’ll have some equipment to start out with. Among the equipment available to purchase are guns, but personally I would exclude those kind of weapons, as they would likely have been used up, destroyed, etc. in a nuclear winter and associated “fallout” (not the literal nuclear kind).
Psi Powers
The PSI system seems pretty simple to run, but I personally wouldn’t use this in my game. At just 5 pages, this chapter might seem more like an afterthought or little add-on than an integral part of the rules/game.
Adventure Rules
Similar to any other OSR game, this chapter covers the rules to run the game, including combat. None of this section is new or different if you’re familiar with those kind of games.
Dangerous Evolution
Here we get a quite-small selection of creatures and opponents to use in the game. All but one stat-block is single-column (the other 2-column presumably to fit the artwork on the same page) and shows the same/normal stats as in any other OSR game (with the addition of PSI). A note at the end states that additional creatures can be brought in from any other Goblinoid Game product (there is a conversion section near the end of the book).
Ape Society
As the chapter name is self-explanatory, it covers ape governance, religion, science, and technology. This chapter will of course be more useful to those whose games will give most (if not all) attention to an ape-centered game, whereas my game would feature very little of this. It also assumes a caste system, with orangutans and bonobos rule over chimpanzees (still considered intelligent) and gorillas (presumed to be all brute strength and very little intelligent). While there may be a biological basis to some of those assumptions, I would again ignore most of that. What if I did want to play an intelligent gorilla?
The Underdwellers
Should 3 pages even be considered a separate chapter? Anyways, here we learn a little more about the humans that survived the nuclear winter underground as well as some example technologies that might be found/utilized by them.
The Ape Master
The last “actual” chapter of game rules, it’s also the most useful. It covers many things including running a game with a 1970s view, adventure themes and locations, ruins and artifacts that can be found there (including 2 very useful tables of random objects as well as random book subjects), along with tables for male and female ape names. The chapter concludes with an example outdoor/wilderness map.
Escape Ape Planet
Something I REALLY wish other Goblinoid Game products included, this is an introductory adventure. This is a nice small, quick adventure that can absolutely help out new players (and new GMs as well!) get a feel for what kind of game is possible with these rules.
Conclusion
The book ends with a Conversion chapter (covering Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, and Starships & Spacemen 2E), a character sheet (very plain and symbols are a tad annoying for double-digit numbers), and the OGL license. I must commend Dan for making the large majority of the book Open Content, including the example outdoor/wilderness map as well as the adventure!
This was a tough game to review. I’m a huge fan of Goblinoid Games; I still consider Labyrinth Lord the ground-breaking and pinnacle OSR game. I really like Tim Snider’s continued involvement; his material for Mutant Future and Cryptworld have been great and I think he helps encourage Dan to develop more material, as busy as he is in other aspects of his life. In this game I like the new 6″x9″ single-column layout, and Mark Allen’s artwork continues to be a perfect fit, as much as I miss Steve Zeiser and would love to see more varied material from others. The rule-set is pretty close to other OSR games, with a few little changes that I personally think are more annoying than innovative. I would need to have the right group to run and/or play this, and perhaps I need to brush up on my movies in this genre to generate a little more understanding and excitement.
Nevertheless, I’m glad to see new games from Goblinoid Games, and I do like seeing those that cover other genres besides the standard fantasy and sci-fi, and not just simply retroclones. I look forward to seeing what else comes down the pipeline!
Ok I’m a sucker for silly things in all formats, and if it involves music, guitars specifically, even better! I discovered Steve Terreberry’s Youtube channel a few months back, probably in the right-side related videos list while watching a Rob Scallon video. I’ll admit I took to his style pretty quick, while others really criticize his silliness, crazy faces, and louder-than-average speaking volume. I recognize those are simply his unique things that combined with great humor and frankly-ridiculously-good guitar playing make for a unique Youtube channel that I like to check back on at least weekly to see what he’ll come up with next.
It really doesn’t seem that long ago that the first game came out (2015!), but it’s probably more that I didn’t hear about and play the game until later on. Before the Storm then came in 2017, and finally the short demo The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit earlier this year. Now we have the first episode for Life is Strange 2, so I’m writing this as my memory is still fresh. Instead of one long review I’ll be posting a review as each episode comes out.
Episode 1
Compared to the first Life is Strange, this sequel starts out a little on the slow and uninteresting side. We play another high-school age student, this time a Hispanic male named Sean Diaz. He lives in Seattle (although it feels like a small town, so I really thought we were back in Arcadia Bay) with his younger brother David and his dad Esteban. Like any teenage boy Sean has a crush on a girl and acts indifferent to his brother and dad. Walking home from the bus stop with his friend Lyla, Sean is trying to invite his crush Jenn to a party, but only succeeds with Lyla’s help.
Upon Lyla’s departure Sean is in his room when he sees the asshole neighbor Brett confronting David. Sean goes out to intervene, and apparently the cops have already been called, as when Brett is shoved by Sean to the ground they arrive. Brett has apparently fallen onto something and is gravely wounded. Ordered by the frankly-hysterical under-trained cop to kneel, Esteban comes out wanting to know what’s going on. Of course nobody can just chill out, because before we know it Esteban is shot. Sean is left stunned and David yells, which seems to set off the energy blast hinted at in the beginning.
Proceeding with the sirens of the approaching back-up in the background, Sean picks up the unconscious David and they flee. The game cuts to 2 days later, as they are walking along a highway (yeah because that won’t get you noticed…) and David already pissing and moaning (if we’re supposed to be sympathetic I don’t have any investment in the characters) about being tired and hungry. After walking further and camping near a lake for the night, they come to a roadside gas station. The lady at the cash register is reasonably nice, as is Brody, the man hanging at a table with his laptop. After brief conversations with both Sean pays for their items (unless you choose to steal, but you’ll likely have the money from earlier) and they head outside to eat and figure out what to do.
This is when racist-McGee rolls up and hassles them. I just don’t get what the point of any of this is. He’s a racist asshole who has no qualms hitting kids. And yet no-one else around sees or does anything apparently. Sean ends up handcuffed to a pipe in his office while waiting for law enforcement to show up. David comes back and helps Sean escape, with the help of Brody. Brody is pretty likable, but this is Life is Strange, how do we know he ain’t a Mr. Jefferson? Driving through the night, they end up at a small motel near the coast. Brody has graciously paid for a room for the two for the night, heading off on his own adventure.
After winding down a bit and starting a bath for David, Sean goes to get a soda when all hell breaks out again. David finds a news report on the TV and learns the truth about their dad, sending him into another emotional rage and causing the telekinetic waves to start swirling around. David barely manages to talk him down, and the next day they are on a bus, continuing their trek. The game ends with a very small hint, a large rock in snow that begins to hover.
Conclusion
As this write-up no doubt shows, I’m not too impressed nor happy with the start of this game. The first Life is Strange is a watermark for storytelling, music, and emotional investment. Before the Storm stumbled a bit, but many simply attributed that to the different developer. But with this sequel and back to Dontnod, unfortunately so far it seems the lightning escaped the bottle. Episode 2 will have a LOT to do if this game is gonna even come close to comparing to the first one. I certainly hope I’m proven wrong, but with such a slow, confusing, and frankly boring start I’m not holding my breath.
A little over a year after playing the first game, I returned to Arcadia Bay for its prequel, Before the Storm. Taking place about 2 years before the first game, in this one you play as Max’s friend Chloe. Max has recently left Arcadia Bay for Seattle, and Chloe is feeling alone and abandoned. Unlike the original game which was developed by Dontnod Entertainment, Before the Storm was developed by Deck Nine. While my review of Life is Strange was fairly short, in this one I’d like to go into a little more detail regarding the characters.
Plot
Chloe is a student at Blackwell Academy. Still reeling from the death of her father, she lashes out at seemingly everyone and trying to find her own way in life, everyone else be damned. One night while trying to sneak into a concert of her favorite local band, Chloe gets into a heated argument with two men; it is about to erupt when she is saved by Rachel Amber, a fellow Blackwell Academy student that she knows only by reputation.
Meeting back at school the next day, the two of them decide to ditch school, riding a train and ending up at a lookout point. Looking through a viewfinder, they happen to see a couple kissing; Chloe makes a joke, but Amber becomes very upset. It turns out the man is Amber’s father, but it’s not his wife he’s kissing. In a fit Amber kicks over a trash bin after burning a family photo, starting what becomes a sizeable wildfire.
At their hideout in the junkyard, Chloe discovers an abandoned pickup truck, which she’s able to fix up. Talking with Amber, they decide to leave everything behind and go away together. Unfortunately complications arise when the woman Amber’s dad was supposedly cheating with is actually Amber’s biological mother, Sera, a drug addict who has problems with both Damon and Frank.
Confronting Frank and Damon at the junkyard, Rachel is stabbed by Damon. Thankfully she survives and recovers at the hospital, while Chloe searches for clues in James’ home office. Using his phone she convinces Damon to meet her, agreeing to pay a ransom for Sera’s life. When she meets Damon she learns James had paid him to kill Sera. Frank arrives and fights Damon. Sera begs Chloe to never tell Rachel about what James did. Visiting Rachel at the hospital again, Chloe is left with the choice whether to tell her everything.
Characters
While not quite as rebellious or outright bitchy as in Life is Strange, in Before the Storm Chloe is still carrying a sizable chip on her shoulder, and it only grows once she meets and starts hanging out with Rachel. While she does reference the more-recent occurrence of Max leaving, she doesn’t really show how much she’s affected and hurt from that.
It’s not long into the game before Rachel Amber makes her appearance. Just like Chloe we are taken aback by her brash behavior and apparent bravery dealing with criminals and other notorious characters. We see her interact with her parents, and it’s evident there’s tension there, although for a teen it’s not that surprising at face value.
In the first game it was very briefly hinted at that Frank had feelings for, let alone a relationship with Rachel. In this game we see Frank as an “understudy” to Damon. Unlike Damon we’re shown that Frank is not all bad, and that perhaps his attitude in the first game is almost justified. We don’t actually see Frank interact with Rachel, and we don’t know if they even know each other yet.
In this game Damon Merrick is the classic bad guy and asshole. Frank is his “apprentice” and keeps him in check; Damon certainly doesn’t seem to care about anyone else besides himself and getting paid. He’s unfortunately a bit one-dimensional. It’s fine to be bad and threatening, but by itself it’s cliche and not very realistic. I would’ve liked to seen just a sliver of humanity, a crack in the armor that showed there is or used to be something in his life that’s not ruined by his way of life.
It hasn’t been as long since William has died, but Joyce has been dating David for awhile and has already seemed to fully accept him into her life and soon home. This is perhaps the biggest surprise in character origin and development compared to what we saw and knew from the first game. In this game David is dating Joyce and later on they announce to Chloe that he will be moving in. Obviously Chloe doesn’t like that, but Joyce basically ignores her. In his defense David seems to try to make an effort to connect with Chloe, as night and day they are in their behavior, opinions, etc. We see more about David, and it certainly puts him in a different light than what’s merely hinted at or perhaps the different way the original developers intended for him to turn out. This is absolutely one of the highlights for the game, and I commend Deck Nine for fleshing out this character.
Rachel’s parents, James and step-mother Rose, certainly come off initially as normal loving parents. At dinner with Chloe they make small talk and help each other in the kitchen. They try to act their best around Rachel, but as I mentioned before there’s something clearly lurking beneath the surface. That comes up later with the reveal of James meeting with Sera, Rachel’s birth mother.
Music
Let’s face it; the soundtrack and original music for the first game set a monstrously high standard, and I was going to be very damned pleased if the music for this game came even close to it. Well, it has gotten close, and while there aren’t any standout tracks or wholly emotional songs to go along with the extremely pivotal moments in the game like there was in the first one, overall I must commend Daughter for their work on this game, building layer upon layer and always knowing when to ease off and when to bring the guitars and other sounds swelling into the foreground. Yes, in contrast to the first game that featured a multitude of indie rock and folk musicians, for this game one band took on the task!
Writing an entire album for this game, Music From Before the Storm (Amazon | Apple | Spotify) is the third album from Daughter, and I really can’t believe I haven’t heard of them until now! It took me quite a few listens to really get into the album and really appreciate it, and stop comparing it to the previous game’s music. Like the game it’s definitely a “slow burner”; it’s something you really should put on a pair of headphones, lay back on the sofa and close your eyes, and just let it seep into you.
Conclusion
Learning the news of a prequel coming so soon after the first game, and from a different studio, my expectations weren’t too high. The original game and soundtrack had a monstrous impact on me, and I was really hoping for more of the same, as hard or even impossible as that would be. Before the Storm somewhat succeeds. Yes it follows the general visual and play style of the first game, but there’s no doubt that Deck Nine have put their unique stamp while still giving us a dramatic and emotional story. I think my only real letdown was the ending, which seemed to come up sooner than I expected, as well as not tying into the first game besides a small end cutscene alluding to Rachel’s disappearance. Why didn’t this game deal with Rachel’s disappearance and how Chloe handled that? Or even Frank?
