Shis thsue:

(Y Another year, another snub from the Oscars

( A journey of emotions and memories

(Y Tailor-made for comic book lovers

And more!

De Cent) Ae 5:
stress to new Taf

» ‘Darkest Dungeon’ game review

Sean Willett
The Gauntlet

arkest Dungeon is about

making the most of a bad
situation. This is the first thing
the game tells you. It’s not lying.

Developed by Red Hook
Studios—an independent
studio based in Vancouver—
Darkest Dungeon is a turn-
based role-playing game for
Steam, PS4, and PS Vita. Players
are tasked with reclaiming
a monster-infested mansion
and, to do so, must employ the
services of an eclectic crew of
glory-seeking adventurers.

There is a twist, however.
While most RPGs only task
players with managing the
physical health of their
parties, players of Darkest

x

: Dungeon must also be aware

: of the mental health of their

: adventurers. As heroes are

: pushed further and further into
: undead-filled ruins and forests,

: the uncertainty and danger they :
: face slowly adds to their stress.

If adventurers become too

: stressed, the characters might
: even become unhinged—a

: highwayman may become too
: afraid to attack or an occultist
: might become too selfish to

: listen to commands. Stress can
: be relieved through praying,

: gambling, or a handful of

: other activities, with different
: characters preferring different
: ways of easing their minds.

The pain and adversity

faced by the party of heroes will
: also cause them to accumulate

A Ki

: personality quirks, skills,

: and sometimes even chronic

: diseases. One of my favourite

: characters was a kleptomaniac
: crusader with an armour-

; smithing hobby who ended

: up catching syphilis from

: an infected trap. The traits

: they accumulate combine to

: give each character their own

: unique personality, making it

: more heartbreaking when they
: inevitably die.

Darkest Dungeon is a very

: difficult game. The odds are

: almost always stacked against
: the player, and quests have to be :
: abandoned as often as they are
: successfully completed. What’s
: more, death is permanent. If

: a hero dies, they’re gone for

: good, and they will need to be

Seen something worth sharing?
Contact: Cheryl Minns, Arts Editor
Marts@theotherpress.ca

www.theotherpress.ca

Se hele

: replaced bya fresh-faced and
: inexperienced recruit.

This turns every quest

: into a tightrope act of risk-

: reward management, with

: every decision able to tip the

: scales between glorious success
: and heartbreaking failure.

: Sacrificing a hero in order to

: complete a quest is often the

: smartest move a player can

: make—even if that adventurer
: happened to be a particularly

: beloved kleptomaniac crusader. :

These difficult choices,

: combined with the lasting

consequences that come with

: failure, make playing Darkest

: Dungeon a fittingly stressful

: experience. But beneath this

: intensity lies a complex and

: exciting game, one that rewards

 

Image by Red Hook Studios

: perseverance and careful

: planning. Victory tastes sweeter
: when snatched out of the

: hands of defeat, and success

: in Darkest Dungeon always

: made me feel like I overcame

: impossible odds.

The game’s visuals and

: sound direction are equally
: enjoyable, with a hand-drawn
: art style and a grim-sounding
: narrator adding to an ever-
: present atmosphere of dread.

Darkest Dungeon is about

: making the most out of a

: bad situation, but it’s exactly

: these bad situations where

: the game shines the brightest.

: While definitely not a game for

: everyone, it’s the perfect fit for a
: person who is up for handling a
: bit of stress.

 

Shelf Indulgence:
One hotel, slightly haunted

» ‘Bellweather Rhapsody’ book review

Joshua Grant
Senior Columnist

OOOOS

Ki Racculia’s Bellweather
Rhapsody is a hotel story
that mirrors other hotel
stories. Imagine, if you will,
that Wes Anderson had
written and directed The
Shining. Four characters? Not
enough quirk. Better: an entire
orchestra of precocious high-
school musicians (and their
chaperones). How precocious?
Very precocious. Is the hotel
haunted? Ambiguously. Twins?

: If we must.

It’s the late 90s. The

Bellweather Hotel has seen

: better days—in these stories,

: the big hotels always have. It
remains mostly empty except

: for once a year during an

: annual gathering of the best

: student musicians in the state.
: That gathering is the setting
for this story.

The twins I mentioned

: are oboist Rabbit Hatmaker
: and chorus-girl Alice
Hatmaker, both precocious,
: co-dependant, and slightly
: nervous, contemplating

: their impending possible
separation to different

: colleges. When Alice finds her
: prodigy roommate hanged,

: she is understandably shaken.
:; When the body mysteriously

: disappears, things start to get

: weird.

What starts off rather twee :
unhinges quickly—murder,

: suicide, sex, and music

: threaten to burst the rotten

: old hotel, spilling hormonal

: teenagers and harried (equally
: hormonal) adults into the

: fast-deepening snow outside.

: The shift in tone and genre

: from light literary comedy to

: darkish thriller is actually kind
of jarring and even disjointed,

: but once you get your bearings

: it’s not too hard to be swept up
: asecond time.

Throughout the book,

Racculia delivers some of the
: most convincing, visceral
: descriptions of the complicated

emotions that tie a musician's

: attachment to their art. To be

: a musician is to struggle with
your art, your economy, and

: your personality, scraping hard
: for those moments when the
music—even pieces you don’t

: take too seriously—takes on a
life of its own.

And to bea teenager, I

recall, is also fraught. Racculia
: captures this turmoil well ina
: fast-paced, funny read.

    
 

re ae
wie) ie ageen oy piel

    
 
 

ACCL

se

RHAPSODY

| + -