Updates 19/06/24
Things have been busy since we last connected. Although the blog has not been active since March, a lot has happened on multiple fronts—both personal and professional.
...and welcome back!
Things have been busy since we last connected. Although the blog has not been active since March, a lot has happened on multiple fronts—both personal and professional. This short article aims to summarise these past few weeks concisely—because life's too short.
The Time In Between
On the 12th of April, I lost my father. It was a very sudden and tragic event for my entire family. Traveling back and forth between the UK and France has taken most of my personal time, mind, and emotional space. I am still not sure how to process this—it feels very surreal and unexpected. I am managing this situation one day at a time. Thankfully, I am surrounded by my partner, loved ones and close friends. I am very lucky and grateful for their love, help and compassionate support during these difficult days.
Variety Mondays: Rise of The Tomb Raider
My first stream since April was a short exploration of Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Published in 2014, the game offers an enjoyable experience despite suffering from mechanical incoherence and repetitive action cycles. Overall, I think the game tries too hard to be many things at the same time — an action/adventure game, survival simulaor, and a RPG. Unlike Uncharted, which clearly knows what it stands for, RotTR tries to please too many players at once. This leads to constantly adjusting gameplay, learning new strategies, and retaining mechanics that might only be used rarely (not to mention the one-off timed strikes). Moreover, the game suffers from dull linearity—it’s clear the game has more agency than the player, pushing the action forward by mono-option gameplay or exessive use of cinematics.
This is a shame as you are restricted to using, acting, and interacting only with what the game allows to do at the time of its choosing - this scope of action changes according to the levels or the situation you find yourself into, regardless of your invetory or available scope of actions. It's very peculiar at times, and I don't think I have ever experienced a similar level of imposed restrictions in a game of this standard.
I was particularly surprised by the number of cinematics in the first hours of gameplay as well (pretty much 50% of the session), cutting gameplay almost systematically for the sake of dramatization, exposition, or transition. This has for effect to place the player on a linear narrative with little to no option for alternative outcomes – in many ways, you are successful at playing the game if you adhere with the singular winning condition of the levels...
I wish the title had a little more humor as well – it takes itslef very seriously. Tension is set at 10,000% all the time, without a chance to catch our breath. It's pretty intense, but it's rarely the best way to navigate storytelling and character development.
On the plus side, the game is beautiful and has a great sense of spacial scale, it's well-performed, and the care invested in directing and camera work is outstanding - it's an enjoyable adventure and an entertaining adventure should you can overlook some of the details mentioned above.
It makes no doublt RotTR is an important milestone for the franchise, even if it suffers from an identity crisis and a tendency to turn every open space into an arena in a way that might feel overly convenient for gameplay. Overall, the game offers an entertaining experience well-anchored in the lore and tropes of the franchise, providing fans yet another opportunity for fortune and glory.
Variety Stream: Prince of Persia - The Lost Crown
Variety Mondays are now renamed Variety Stream with this episode. I figured my schedule was a little unstable to commit to Mondays only. This new title offers a little more flexibility and the opportunity to stream new titles on the fly.
PoP TLC is a great surprise! Unlike most of the games on the channel, PoP TLC is a platform action/adventure game—something I am not very familiar with. Released shortly after Skull and Bones, Ubisoft has done an excellent job with this title—I was very impressed by the focus on storytelling, the character dialogue mode you mostly encounter in traditional RPG games, the beautiful art direction of the levels and environments, and the overall aesthetic of the game.
The action and dungeon exploration are very gratifying, even if the PTSD of NPC respawn and distant checkpoints reminds you of the frustration of the early chapters of the franchise—it seems to be part of the franchise identity now, I will just have to get over it!.
Now available at a more affordable price, PoP TLC is a great game to consider if you are looking to reconnect with the franchise (now expanding with new titles in the works).
MattGoesRogue channel and content formats
As the channel grows and my ability to stream expands beyond PS gameplay, I will start making a comeback to 'piece to camera' streaming. The first episodes will be very bootstrapped but no less exciting to create and share with you online.
I am anticipating making a long stream with a variety of topics, reviews, and commentary to be later edited into independent videos throughout the week. This will help provide more content while offering both long and short forms to meet viewers' preferences.
I am really excited to press 'Stream' and get started with more content production! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and taking your suggestions for topics and games to cover as part of MattGoesRogue.
CineRPG - A New Community Cinema
CineRPG has been selected by Cinema for All and the BFI as part of the Launch grant scheme 2024! I pitched this project back in February to address some issues I have witnessed in Bristol—more specifically regarding the rarity of screen experiences, game environments, cuts in arts funding, and the lack of affordable initiatives offering people an opportunity to connect and belong.
I have been lucky to receive a starting grant of £300 and five coaching sessions to get the community cinema off the ground. This project has been a blessing in these turbulent times, providing a creative outlet to focus my energy constructively, as well as to explore a new facet of distribution I ignored thus far. I was really pleased to hear CineRPG received positive feedback from the local community and TTRPG publishers. The premiere screening of the initiative is scheduled for the 22nd of September (save the date!).
Here is the linktree of CineRPG for your consideration (don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates):https://linktr.ee/CineRPG
That's about it—you are all caught up!
Keep an eye on MGR socials for the announcement of future streams and video releases, and don't hesitate to join the Discord of the channel.
Stay Rogue!
Matt