Author: Richard Parry

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 …

Why You Liked … Argo

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Man, seventies fashion didn’t treat us kindly, did it? Fashion isn’t the only thing that’s best left in the seventies, but we’ll get to governmental foreign policy in just a moment. Argo is an absolutely superb movie based on the true story of one of the most sublime counterespionage events in history. Or, I guess, known history, because they’re going to save some good shit out the back. Historical Context We follow Ben Affleck’s Tony Mendez, a CIA exfil expert set on the mission of extracting six US Embassy workers during the Iran Hostage Crisis that kicked off November 4, 1979. It follows the real-life Canadian Caper, and on the morning of Sunday, January 27, 1980, the full eight-person party passed through passport control at the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, boarded a Swissair flight to Zürich, and escaped. The great prestige was that Mendez Read More …

How to see your Writing More Clearly (Without Losing the Will to Live)

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A real challenge with writing is the (very) long time between penning the first page and publication. It’s a huge amount of time to invest without getting feedback on how good the book is. There are tools to help, such as writer’s groups, and I’m going to share another: a self-starter you can use without the fear of another human making the You-Fucked-Up face. The real problem with humans is that, often, they want to make you feel good, or objectively think your feelings are things to be trashed. Getting good human feedback is super hard, because humans in general: a) think they’re good at feedback, but b) are fucking not. But reviews before reviews are still hugely valuable. We want to get the unbiased take without the existential dread of Goodreads. We want to improve, but without the gut-punch to Read More …

Overthinking, but Professionally: Steam, GOG, and Epic (or, Who’s Really on Your Side?)

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Maybe you were once naïve enough to believe Ubisoft Connect would add something to your life; I’m not here to judge. Among this digital clutter, three stores actually matter: Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store. First, the TL;DR—or as I call it, “The Algebra of Access and Aggravation.” I promise, this is only make-believe math: Now let’s overthink why Steam, GOG, and Epic are (mostly) on your side—or to badly misrepresent Tron, “For the Users!” Let’s also be professional about why publisher launchers are the worst thing since loot boxes, and how—despite exclusives—Epic might actually be on the right side of history. Steam, GOG, and Epic: The Convenient, the Collector, and the Cash Cannon We all have those same three fucken launchers, or maybe even four if you were once naïve enough to believe Ubisoft Connect would add anything to Read More …

Reinvention, the Mask and the Cost: Being the Hero You Choose to Be

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Some of the most compelling stories ever told don’t involve capes, laser eyes, or spandex that never rips. But they do borrow the superhero blueprint to make them unforgettable. From fantasy epics to space operas, from gritty urban crime tales to historical dramas, the core themes that make superhero stories powerful (reinvention, the mask, and the cost of becoming something more) can give any genre a much-needed punch in the narrative gut. I’m about to unleash some storytelling hacks that will elevate your heroes from oddly-boring-despite-the-great-hair to I-must-analyse-their-backstory-in-a-3,000-word-Reddit-post level. Whether you’re writing romantasy (love triangles, but with swords!) or epic space opera (and yes, using an ion cannon on a capital ship is questionable diplomacy), these tricks will make your heroes more relatable, believable, and most importantly, the kind of protagonist who forces readers to sacrifice sleep just to see what happens next. Before Read More …

Why You Liked … Kate

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Imagine being dropped into a world of danger with only your principles. Kate brings her code of ethics to a gunfight. Kate – The Action Heroine Hollywood Forgot We Needed There’s something to be said for an action film that doesn’t just throw a random actress into a catsuit and hope for the best. Kate, Netflix’s neon-soaked revenge thriller, does something rare. Kate gives us a female assassin who actually looks like she knows what she’s doing. Mary Elizabeth Winstead isn’t here to pose dramatically in leather and execute impractical spinning kicks. She fights like someone who’s… well, let’s have a look. [Montages are in the video ⬆️] Winstead knows her way around a gun because she’s made a career out of playing characters who shoot first and ask questions never. I first encountered her in 10 Cloverfield Lane, but where I remembered her Read More …

Microsoft Might Accidentally Win Gaming

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Microsoft is thinking about making a handheld, but their worst enemy isn’t Sony, Nintendo, or even the ghost of Zune. It’s Windows. That OS that fights controllers like they owe it money. What if Microsoft finally fixed Windows for a handheld… and then, in the biggest “hold my beer” moment ever, they drop a Windows-runs-natively update for Xbox? Suddenly, the Series X isn’t just an Xbox (it’s a Steam machine, or Epic games hub, or hell, GOG’s on there too). Xbox gamers get Game Pass and Steam, making Microsoft the undisputed gaming warlord of both couch and commute. Meanwhile, Sony and Nintendo watch from the sidelines, trapped in their walled gardens as Xbox players boot up Baldur’s Gate 3 on literally anything. Microsoft, your move.

Why You Liked … Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

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In my first-ever game review, I tackle Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, a haunting RPG where love, loss, and moral dilemmas take center stage (with some flawed-but-fun combat on the side). I unpack its bittersweet story, its obsession with meaningful side quests, and whether I can survive as a game reviewer without invoking the wrath of gamer purists. Spoiler: I’m probably already on thin ice, but if you’ve ever wanted an existential crisis with your ghosts, this one’s for you. Read on, and let’s see if I should stick to movies. Read More …