Author: Richard Parry

Why You Liked … Doom: The Dark Ages

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Doom: The Dark Ages isn’t just more Doom. It’s smarter, meaner, and surprisingly thoughtful. In this review, I break down why this demon-slaying metal opera deserves to be called a masterpiece. From its gloriously brutal combat to its unexpectedly strong character work (yes, even Doom Slayer has feelings now), it’s a game that proves story = plot + character. Also, shoutout to Thira’s full armour and her dad’s shirtless thirst-trap energy. Doom finally grows up a bit, and it looks damn good doing it. Watch (or read, if you want to count the Warhammer jokes). Read More …

Why You Liked … The Accountant

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A Different Kind of Hero: Ben Affleck plays an autistic accountant with a moral code, a kill count, and a calculator (and somehow, it works). With the sequel out now, I revisited The Accountant to explore why this unlikely action film still hits so hard.

This isn’t just about bullets and balance sheets. It’s about what happens when a neurodivergent lead doesn’t just survive the story, but owns it.

I dig into representation, justice, evolution, and why Christian Wolff might be the most quietly revolutionary hero we’ve seen in years.

📘 Bring your spreadsheets and your feels.
🧠 Read the full breakdown here! Read More …

Why You Liked … Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

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Remember that one wall-run Cal definitely should’ve made but instead yeeted himself into a ravine? Yeah. We all do. And yet… we kept playing. Why? Because this game slapped harder than a Wookiee with abandonment issues. It wasn’t just lightsabers and trauma (though: yes), it was heart, grit, and the kind of hope Star Wars had misplaced in a ditch somewhere post-Last Jedi. This wasn’t about becoming a Jedi. It was about surviving, healing, and Force-pushing stormtroopers off cliffs. And honestly? That’s the dream.

[Full review here — bring your feelings and maybe a stim canister.] Read More …

Why You Liked … May the Fourth

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2025 Edition. Despite Disney’s best efforts, there is Star Wars gold at the end of the rainbow. If you like reckoning with legacy, moral ambiguity, sacrifice, and found family, I’m here to make your Star Wars Day just as rosy as when A New Hope dropped way back in 1977… minus the bell bottoms we all pretend we never owned. Introduction People talk about Star Wars fatigue the same way they talk about superhero fatigue, as if it’s part of life now. Disney strip-mined Star Wars for all its joy in a relentless sequel churn. I’m positive one of the Bobs was to blame; they wanted shareholder value, but we wanted Star Wars. It doesn’t mean there aren’t chunks of good Star Wars left, though. To celebrate 2025’s Star Wars Day, I’m going to give you the best movie, series, video game, and book Read More …

Why You Didn’t Like … Plane

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Plane: the movie where the idea of “authenticity” is about as convincing as a safety briefing from a clown. You shouldn’t waste time on this movie, but you might be tempted to! It stars Gerard Butler, who won hearts and minds as Leonidas in 300, and Mike Coulter, who won hearts and minds as Luke Cage and Spartan Locke. I wanted to like this one. I hoped it might have the folksy charm of Butler’s outings like Gamer, but there’s no charm here. It all starts fairly badly; it’s clear the scriptwriters googled, “How do planes work?” and then used the top hit from a conspiracy site where the Earth is flat. Then they stacked on the usual Trifecta of Impossibility™—the plane without enough fuel, the convict transport, the storm of ages—and hoped we wouldn’t look too hard when our first double fatality happened Read More …

Why You Liked … Service Model

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The Future is Now, and It’s Not Great. Hello, valued consumer. I see you are engaging in anxiety brought on by literally everything. Would you like a soothing cup of tea? Good. Because today we’re panning for five golden things: Let’s begin. Sci-Fi, AKA the Original Horrible Prophecy Machine I finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Service Model, a book too close to prophecy to not be unsettling. There’s a lot this book made me think of, not least of which is that no one should ever call a robot Uncharles. Despite that, you should read Service Model. It’s charming, despite the doom. It’s funny, despite us all being dead. It’s prophetic, but the prophecy brings hope with it, and we all need some of that. Let’s begin. Science fiction has been a really good barometer of our future, and I’m not talking about flying cars or Read More …

Why You Liked … Avowed

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Exploration, Companionship, and the Game That Deserved Better Reviews. What if the world doesn’t need saving? Well, tough rocks, the Living Lands of Avowed still need you to rescue them, but they’re at their best when you’re exploring, meeting dudes, and lighting the occasional villain on fire with a flaming sword. And honestly, that’s kind of beautiful. Introduction You start your epic quest in Avowed as the Envoy, one of the Emperor’s chosen from the land of Aedyr. There’s a plague called the Dreamscourge, and it is wreaking havoc on the empire’s citizens, and, more importantly for the Emperor, his throbbing desire to colonise and subjugate the free peoples of the Living Lands. Of course, it sounds nicer when he says it. As far as setups go, it reminds me more of Tyranny, arguably Obsidian’s finest effort, but it doesn’t deliver the same feels or Read More …

Overthinking, but Professionally: Is LitRPG Just Escapism, or Something Deeper?

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Is LitRPG just a guilty pleasure, or does it actually mean something? Let’s get a little more profound on this shower thought. This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on LitRPG: its past, how to write it, and why it keeps us coming back. LitRPG isn’t just about power-ups and progress bars. It taps into something deeper. Why do these stories hit so hard? Let’s autopsy why this genre is fundamental fantasy rather than a fad. Missed the earlier parts? Introduction There are a few genres that are experiencing break-out success, and with good reason. They scratch an underserved niche and, if done well, expand that niche into a chasm of readership that becomes a defining success. Romantasy is a great example, but we’re here to talk about LitRPG. You’ll still never pry Paladin’s Grace from my hands, but I will Read More …

4theWriters: How to Write LitRPG Without Losing the Plot

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LitRPG is a genre where game mechanics and storytelling hold hands. The trick is making sure it doesn’t turn into a hostage situation. Writing LitRPG can be fun. You essentially get to play-act as a developer (either of tabletop or computer games) without having to put in years of work in another profession. You also get to create immersive worlds, craft intricate levelling systems, and finally give your meticulously built setting the starring role it deserves. What’s not to like? But there’s a trap: get too wrapped up in mechanics and you forget to tell a story, or put characters in it. If you’re afraid your book reads more like patch notes than a novel, you’ve got yourself a problem. If your protagonist spends more time explaining their inventory than actually using it, you might be entering the new genre Read More …

Why You Liked … LitRPG Before It Was Cool

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Think LitRPG started with Ready Player One? Think again. Long before you could grind levels in a LitRPG novel, Dream Park and Guardians of the Flame showed us what it meant to truly play the game. Modern LitRPGs let you exploit the system, but these classics forced you to survive it. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on LitRPG: its roots, how to write it, and why it keeps us hooked. Before LitRPG was a genre, books like Dream Park and Guardians of the Flame set the foundations for game-inspired storytelling. This is where it all began—long before stat sheets took over. Introduction LitRPG (short for Literary Role-Playing Game) is what happens when storytelling hooks up with game mechanics and produces a deeply nerdy lovechild. At its core, it’s about characters progressing through a structured game-like system, often complete with XP, stats, and level-ups. While it’s Read More …