What I'm playing, watching and working on these days.
A brief update on life and all my nefarious ambitions.
I’ve been busy lately. Crazy busy.
I’ve been covering a lot of video game news at Forbes on top of my TV reviews. With E3 coming up and some big events in popular games I cover, that’s occupied a ton of time.
I’ve relaunched my YouTube channel also so that I can pursue that as part of a multi-pronged approach at a new type of career—a combination of content creation that includes this Substack newsletter, growing my YouTube following, and having as many compelling conversations as possible via my new diabolical podcast. Between the shows, movies and video games I watch and play and then the time it takes to think and write about them—well, if I could afford one I’d hire an assistant. Maybe I should take on some interns . . .
Then there’s all the house work and yardwork, the kids, the dogs, all the day-to-day humdrum of bills and appointments, a regular workout schedule so that I can lose weight and get into shape, push back the clock a bit as my 40th birthday hurtles closer and closer. Occasionally I take a nap. I rarely sleep more than six or seven hours because I wake up each morning with my mind racing. I aim always for balance between work, family time, quality time with Rachel, self-care and all the rest, but balance is rarely easy to come by.
One thing people say is a real challenge when they quit drinking is all the extra time on their hands, the boredom they suddenly have to contend with. Well I quit drinking 45 days ago and I wish I was bored more often. Boredom would be a nice change of pace. I might have more time on my hands but it doesn’t feel that way.
I’m not complaining. I love being busy. I love having projects. I have so many ambitions and ideas. On top of everything else, I’ve been tinkering with some game design stuff. One of my hobbies, outside of actually playing tabletop games, is dreaming up the games themselves. I’d love to get to the point of running a Kickstarter for some of these ideas. I need artists along with the interns and clones.
I’m also looking quite seriously into voice acting and/or audio book narration. People have been quite kind about my voice lately as I’ve gotten back into making videos and I figure I should put it to good use. Theater used to be my jam. At one point I wanted to be an actor, which is probably why I make such ridiculous TikTok videos . . .
I have this novel I’d like to write along with that six pack washboard stomach I’d like to attain and those 40 lbs I’d like to lose. I want to run 5 and 10ks this summer.
I’m also taking my family up to Montana to the family cabin this summer, and I’ll be writing and making videos and staying busy there, too. And also hiking, backpacking and fishing.
I don’t need interns, I need clones. I need multiplicity, dammit.
Over at Forbes, I’ve written quite a lot this month, including my spoiler-free review of Loki and this piece on the best video games of May. That piece includes a video I made for Forbes’ YouTube channel:
I was proud of this video as it marks a step forward in my editing/narration work. I do all of this by myself, so it ends up being quite time-consuming on top of all the rest of the work I’ve been doing, most of which I’m not getting paid for, or paid so poorly that it barely counts. I figure it’s all a means to an end, all steps down the path as it were.
Video has been a special challenge. One thing I’ve realized is that I am by nature a very mellow person. I am very chill. My voice is very chill. YouTubers are often very upbeat and energetic and I’m discovering that I need to act a little, put on a persona, in order to not come across as too chill for video. The above video is a good example. One bit of criticism I’ve read is that I sound bored. That’s fair. It’s very different than writing! I realize I need to become comfortable wearing a persona. One can still be genuine and true to one’s self and wear an entertaining persona. We contain multitudes, dontcha know?
The other video I’m most proud of recently is my Cruella review:
Sure, I might have been a little harsh but I do think the movie—for all its strengths—fails where it matters most. It never explains how Cruella became such a villain that she’d murder dozens of puppies to make coats out of their fur! Besides, this is the video that had some kind commenters tell me I ought to do some voice-acting or audio book narration, and that was very nice to hear. A little ego boost never hurts.
You can subscribe to my YouTube channel here. I cover a lot of the same stuff I write about at Forbes or here at diabolical only in video instead.
Video Games
I’ve been playing some games lately, and meaning to play plenty of others. Lots of games. I can’t pick and choose. It’s a juggling act, that’s for sure. I want to play them all and I never have enough time! Right now, on top of my “for fun” games like Fortnite and Call of Duty, I’m playing:
BioMutant which is one I was looking forward to but just don’t like veyr much. I wanted to get a review up sooner but the game is just not what I hoped it would be and I’m struggling with it a lot.
Returnal, the first new PS5 exclusive that’s actually exclusive to PS5 and can’t be played anywhere else—and a completely fantastic third-person shooter/roguelike set on a dark alien planet in a time loop. Some of the best enemy design in recent video games I’ve seen. One of a very few reasons to own a PS5 right now.
Necromunda: Hired Gun, a surprisingly good FPS set in the Warhammer 40k universe that does wall-running a lot like Titanfall 2
Resident Evil Village, which I’m really digging probably because I really enjoyed Resident Evil 7
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground, a decent turn-based tactical game set in the Warhammer fantasy universe
Going Medieval, a ridiculously addictive Medieval colony-building sim that’s been making waves on Steam recently
Chivalry 2, the over-the-top multiplayer game of knightly combat that’s good, silly, bloody fun
Knockout City, a really entertaining dodgeball-of-the-future multiplayer game
I’m about to start playing some others, including:
Ground Branch, a hardcore tactical military FPS
Backbone, a cool noir detective story about a racoon private eye set in Vancouver, B.C.
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows, or at least a preview build of the game. This one is a Tim Burton-esque platformer that looks charming.
MechWarrior 5, a mecha game that sounds like a blast but that I keep putting off actually playing
Dark Alliance, the online co-op Forgotten Realms game that’s a spiritual successor to the old Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games—I’ve previewed the game twice and it’s a fun, light action game. Waiting on a review key, and very happy this is coming to Xbox Game Pass!
Loop Hero, a really neat looking strategy card game / RPG from Devolver Digital
Dying Light Platinum Edition, the revamped updated version of the zombie-parkour FPS Dying Light. This includes the Medieval fantasy DLC Hellraid which I’m very eager to try out. This expansion now has both multiplayer “raid” mode and a single-player campaign. (P.S. this is 75% off on Steam right now!)
Super Animal Royale, a battle royale game with a “zoological twist” that looks pretty adorable—and it’s free!
Valheim, the wildly popular Viking game that I keep meaning to play and keep putting off because I have problems. I have gamer’s block. I have taken on too much.
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis, a really cool looking game about defending a Medieval city during a siege. A combination of survival strategy/resource management sim gameplay, plus strategy combat and so forth.
Curious Expedition 2, a narrative “rougelite” set in a fictional version of the 19th century blending procedural gameplay with a rich story and dice-based, turn-based combat.
Games I’ve enjoyed recently that I recommend:
Spiritfarer, a wonderful, moving ship-management game where your ship also happens to be the ferry of the dead. Guide souls to their final resting place, but grow some crops and cook some delicious food up along the way. Lovely game.
Olija, a very cool pixel-art platformer that ditches the modern trend of being super, super challenging in favor of a cool story and an abundance of atmosphere.
Narita Boy, another pixel art platformer but with a techno-future-retro vibe that’s just rad as it gets with one of the best OSTs of the year. Feast yer ears:
This Friday, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart releases so that’s another one to add to the mix. It’s the biggest PS5 exclusive so far and it looks terrific.
So much. So many games. Too many to list. Too many to play.
In terms of actually reviewing all these—I don’t think it’s possible. Logistically, time-wise, psychologically it’s just not going to happen. I’m thinking shorter previews/impressions for more games sprinkled with deep-dives and reviews for occasional games is the approach I need to take. If I decide I need to finish each of these before I write about them or make videos I’m not going to produce any content, period.
In any case, I’m probably missing some. In terms of organization, since I work from home by myself with nobody keeping track, I need to finally just man up and create some really helpful spreadsheets and make use of my calendar more. My ADHD can really get the better of me. Maybe that’s also why I feel so busy sometimes—I’m scatter-brained and disorganized. You should see how I do yardwork. I’ll be working on organizing a shed, and I’ll bring something from the back yard into the front yard, maybe to put on the street for bulk trash pickup, and the next thing I know I’m mowing the lawn.
Focus, Erik! Focus! I’m pretty sure I’m biologically designed to be a Viking marauder that occasionally jots down some sagas or poetry to recite over the fire with a horn of mead, not someone who sits at a desk . . . .
TV & Movies
In terms of what I’ve been watching lately: Quite a lot. We went to the movie theater to see A Quiet Place Part 2 and I fully intend to pen a review, but I keep putting it off to get other things done. It was really good! Definitely worth seeing in theaters but only if you’ve seen the first movie. Seriously, this is how sequels ought to be made. John Krasinski impresses the hell out of me as both writer and director here, and Emily Blunt and the entire (small) cast are excellent.
We re-watched Blood Diamond. This is a movie about the illegal diamond trade in Africa starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou (who is also in A Quiet Place Part 2) , directed by Edward Zwick. DiCaprio and Hounsou are terrific in the film. Connelly is less believable as an intrepid reporter. It’s harrowing enough, with child soldiers and plenty of atrocities. But I would cut at least 20 to 30 minutes of fluff to make it less tedious. All the stuff with the concerned American diplomat should be axed and plenty more besides.
We’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek and I love it more and more every episode. What a heartwarming comedy. What I love most about this show is that unlike so many other comedies out there, this one is about how people change. So many sitcoms are about how people stay the same, year after year after year. Schitt’s Creek is about how a family of rich, arrogant asses become human and decent and likable. We’re in season 4 and the relationship between David and his new boyfriend is one of the sweetest on TV, period.
We’re also watching PEN15, a show my girlfriend introduced me to after she binged it. Now she’s re-watching with me. It’s hilarious. It’s basically a much, much better version of Big Mouth. The premise is pretty great. The two main characters, Maya and Anna, are 7th-graders experiencing the emotional, hormonal mayhem that is junior high (the show opens on the two talking about how “great” 7th grade will be—it often isn’t). The twist is that Maya Ishii-Peters is played by Maya Erskine and Anna Kone is played by Anna Konkle—both women in their 30s.
I will be blunt: If they were not played by women in their 30s this show would be unwatchable. An entire episode is devoted to the discovery of masturbation, and oh dear god in heaven it’s hilarious but if Maya was played by a 13-year-old instead of a 30-year-old it would be . . . um . . . deeply messed up, to say the least. Interestingly, I also don’t think this would work if it were two men playing boys instead of two women playing girls. Maybe it’s not fair, maybe our society is screwed up and sexist, but it’s funny when these women/girls have crushes on the boys in their class; it would be creepy if it were two 30-year-old dudes crushing on 13-year-old girls, even if they were playing adolescents. Why is that? Why is one funny and the other creepy? It’s not fair, sure, just like the sexy baby commercial wouldn’t work if it were a girl baby, but here we are.
PEN15 is funny regardless. And by funny I mean I laughed harder during one episode than I’ve laughed in many, many years at any TV show or comedy act. I’m referring to the timpani episode for those of you already watching the show. I laughed so hard it hurt. It was painful. I wanted it to stop. Dear wombat in heaven, what great fun this show is.
Last night, the four of us watched the first episode of Sweet Tooth on Netflix also. It’s a new show about a deadly pandemic that pretty much ends the world as we know it. Mysteriously, a new form of “hybrid” animal-human species appears (as babies born to human parents) at the same time. Did the hybrids cause the pandemic or is it the other way around? That’s the big question that drives the show, though its focus is on Gus, a young hybrid boy who has lived his whole life apart from a society that’s crumbling. One episode in and I’m totally hooked. Great characters, a cool premise that’s a little too close to home in some ways, and gorgeous cinematography make this one you should definitely check out. Hopefully the series—based on the comics of the same name—continues to be as great as the first episode.
Oh, and I’ve watched some Loki and I’m really hoping I was just in a bad mood and that it’ll click as the 6-episode series progresses, because it just didn’t click for me. Maybe I have some MCU/superhero fatigue or something. I figure I should like this show a lot more given Tom Hiddleston is terrific, but so far it’s altogether too much exposition.
Then there’s Fear The Walking Dead which wraps its 6th season this weekend, The Handmaid’s Tale which has been awfully controversial, and Army of the Dead which I did not particularly care for.
I’ve also been reading, though not a great deal lately, truth be told. I’m too busy! I’m too tired! I hit the bed and sleep ensnares me almost immediately.
I just posted a new entry in the Book Club for those of you still scrabbling your way through A Clockwork Orange. I’ve decided that a less unpleasant book—a better summer book—should be next. I know I’m behind schedule, but I think we can wrap things up by the end of next week and watch the movie and have that final discussion. I suspect I’m not the only one a bit behind as the weather turns balmy and summer descends.
From there, we have some options as to our next read, but I’m definitely leaning toward something fun and easy and escapist. Ideas are always welcome, of course!
Did you hear they’re rebooting Master & Commander? That was a great movie that I really need to watch again. I’ve never read any of the books, however. Maybe something to add to the list.
As always, thank you so very, very much for reading and subscribing to diabolical. I would love it if you’d share the newsletter with your friends and family and anyone who might be interested in this weird blend of games, pop culture and politics. And I’d love it if you’d subscribe to the diabolical podcast (which will always show up here but also on Apple or Spotify) and my diabolical YouTube channel. I know things have been a little quiet around here lately, but that’s just a temporary blip while I pour a little extra effort into learning the ropes with video and spend time getting guests lined up for the podcast and—did I mention I need some interns? Or clones? Oy vey.
Y’all are the best and I’m honored and grateful for your support, both free and paid subscribers alike. Thank you!
Oh, and if you have any games, TV shows or movies that you’ve really been enjoying lately and would like to recommend to yours truly (and to other readers) shout out in the comments!
Totally agree on PEN15 and Schitt's Creek was the best thing on TV in the past two years.