When Star Wars Outlaws was released last year, I didn’t hear much about the game. That’s usually not a great sign when a big video game developer releases the game and then there isn’t much discussion online. It indicates the game either didn’t sell well or was not well-made. This didn’t stop me from buying a copy of the game for myself as I wanted to see if the game was good. Star Wars Outlaws is not a perfect game, but I’m enjoying it a lot! I played for nine hours straight last weekend which is not something I do often. I’m saving most of my thoughts on this game for the review I intend to write. For this post, I wanted to scour the internet and read critiques of Star Wars Outlaws. From there, I wanted to share if I agree or disagree with them. This isn’t an all-encompassing list, but these critiques were said by multiple reviewers.

Too Much Stealth or The Stealth in Star Wars Outlaws Sucks

It’s funny, I hate being stealthy in video games. I would much rather go in guns blazing than hiding. Star Wars Outlaws is a stealth-heavy game, so you would think that I would hate this part of the game. I don’t mind the stealth in this game. For the most part, Kay can sneak her way through bases without getting caught. Have I gotten caught before? Sure, but then I either hide and the guards go back to what they were doing or Kay dies and I figure out a better way to sneak around. It does make completing missions longer, but I don’t mind it as much as others who have played the game.

I can’t speak to the critique of whether the stealth in Star Wars Outlaws sucks. I don’t play a lot of stealth video games as I tend to avoid them. This critique can be broken down into Kay not being able to fully hide behind the cover or Kay not having a lot of armor, so when she is caught, it’s going to hurt. My thoughts on this is comparing Kay Vess to Han Solo. Would Han Solo be able to take on waves and waves of Hutt enforcers or Stormtroopers? I’m sure he could, but eventually, he would be overwhelmed. The last thing I would add to this; I think for those who want more of a Star Wars gun-blazing type of game, I’d recommend Star Wars Battlefront II. Iden Versio is equipped to run out and kill everybody and Kay Vess simply is not built for that type of gameplay.

Lockpicking is Tedious

I absolutely agree with this. The lockpicking mini-game in Star Wars Outlaws is one of my least favorite parts of the game. I’m going to save most of this for my full review of the game because there is so much I want to say about this.

How Can Kay Punch Stormtroopers helmets and not break her hand after?

This critique is hilarious to me. When Kay sneaks up behind enemies or specifically Stormtroopers in this case, she punches them in the face and then drags their bodies behind cover. How can Kay not break her hand over and over again doing this? I would have liked to see more takedown options for Kay. Stealthy takedowns are crucial for Kay and for Kay to succeed in her missions, but punching Stormtroopers in the helmet over and over again? That must get tiring.

It’s misleading to call Star Wars Outlaws an Open World Game

I think this critique is valid even though it doesn’t play into my opinions about the game. Star Wars Outlaws specifically on Wikipedia lists the game as being “Open World”. I don’t have an exact definition of Open World when it comes to video games, but if I’m describing a game as Open World, it would be a game where I could explore the entire galaxy and do what I want when I want. There is a point in the game where Kay has the chance to explore three planets in any order the player chooses. That’s not Open World. Open World would be giving Kay access to the entire Outer Rim. I don’t want to reveal which planets Kay gets to explore, but I like the planets that were chosen for the game. I don’t mind that the game isn’t Open World, I mean Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor wasn’t Open World and I didn’t mind them. I think fans are yearning for an Open World game and when Star Wars Outlaws was described as Oepn World and it isn’t, fans were left to be disappointed.

As I was reading reviews, some gamers described this game as trash or rotten. I think that’s harsh. Star Wars Outlaws isn’t perfect, but it’s fun. I wasn’t expecting to love this game as much as I have. There needs to be Nix merch soon because I would buy it in a heartbeat. Once I complete the game, I’m going to write my in-depth review where I will dive into everything I love and everything I didn’t about Star Wars Outlaws.

A few weekends ago, me and my family got together for a board game day. Through our text chat, we were throwing out ideas on what game we wanted to play, and Arkham Horror was brought up. It’s been a hot minute since I have played Arkham Horror. I have written about Arkham Horror before on BizarreBrunette as it’s a game I first played back in college. During our gaming day, we played two different rounds of Arkham Horror where we won once against Cthulhu and then we were decimated by Ithaqua in our second game.

Before getting into Arkham Horror further, I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and detail why this game holds such a special place in my heart. I was first introduced to Arkham Horror at my local board game store in my college town. This was the first game I played which was a cooperative board game. I loved how each of the pre-made characters had its specialties and as a group, we could discuss who would play which character. Once playing Arkham Horror, I began my descent into learning and playing more board games. Arguably without Arkham Horror amongst other board games, I wouldn’t be as into them as I am today.

In the first game, I chose Mandy Thompson, the researcher. I played Mandy before in other games. Mandy can cause a re-roll for herself or other players if the roll isn’t a success. It’s such a good ability and I find that in most games of Arkham Horror I play, Mandy is a character that’s chosen frequently. In our second game, I played Sister Mary, the nun. I can’t recall a time I played as Sister Mary and I don’t know why. She starts the game blessed (meaning that she rolls a success on a four, five, or a six, not just a five or a six) which is so good. The trade-off is she starts with no money which can be tough since money is used to buy items including weapons, spells, or other miscellaneous items. This is where it helps to have a variety of different characters at the table since they have their resources and weaknesses.

For those who haven’t read my other Arkham Horror posts, I will describe a bit of the game. The goal of Arkham Horror is to work together to close portals that pop up in the town of Arkham. To win the game, the players have to permanently close six gates before the entity is released. If the players don’t do this, they can fight the entity, but if the entity kills the players, the players lose the game. In our first game, we had an advantage because we started with two elder signs which can help close gates in the place of clue tokens. In our second game, we didn’t have as useful of items, and Ithaqua came out sooner than Cthulhu did. It was the perfect storm that led to us losing the second game.

Arkham Horror is a game I will continue to play and will always be in the mood to play. I like how players have to work together and there’s a dice-rolling element to the game, so it feels like a mix between playing a board game and a table-top roleplaying game. It’s a game that never gets old no matter how many times I get to play.

In my 2024 – Pop Culture Year in Review post, I mentioned being a part of a Candela Obscura campaign. This was completely unexpected because, at the time I joined this campaign, I was already in two other campaigns. I was under the impression that this would be a one-shot. Our group had a blast, so now this has turned into several sessions. I’m unsure how long this will last, but I’m happy to see this through. I wanted to share how I found my group and what has transpired in our sessions.

If there’s anything I can suggest to new players looking for a TTRPG group, it’s to join a local community. This can be through Facebook, Discord, or another social media platform, but it has worked wonders for me. I was browsing through a TTRPG Facebook group and someone had posted looking for players to play Candela. Candela Obscura is Critical Role’s horror tabletop game that they have created. I have played Candela Obscura several times and I have come to enjoy it. I like how there’s already a world established, so there isn’t a lot of world-building that needs to be done. It’s easy to pick up the book, page through it, and be ready to launch into a game. I had commented that I was interested and after conversing with the other players, we settled on meeting for our game.

With horror games, I approach them differently than I would with Dungeons & Dragons. I don’t focus as much on the character’s backstory, instead, I like to figure out what my character will do to help herself and the group survive. Horror TTRPGs can be unforgiving in that aspect, so I don’t get attached to my characters like I would in a Fantasy setting. During character creation, I decided to play a Doctor with a focus on examining items that come from supernatural means. My main skills are in Intuition which emphasizes investigating and piecing the story together. Dr. Vivienne Baker is my character’s name and I have grown fond of her the more I play her. She works as a Doctor at an academic university and she is someone who fights for the lower class.

Our first session took place on a train where our circle had to protect magical furniture. Rumors were circulating that this set of furniture was cursed in some fashion. When I say that our plan crumbled, I mean it. One of the players had to fight off four enemies at once, I was cornered by some henchmen, and another player was transported to another dimension. In one encounter, I rolled a six which was a critical success, and ended up breaking free from the henchmen and escaping. With all of that said, our group ended up escaping somewhat. The session was intense and our DM did an amazing job of creating conflict for us.

As far as what is to come in the future sessions, I have no clue. There’s a mysterious healthcare company that is trying to collaborate with us. I have no doubt that our deal with them will backfire miraculously. Will Dr. Vivienne Baker survive? Or will she suffer a scar and be forced to retire from Candela Obscura for good. I will be happy with the outcome either way. No matter what, I will keep you all posted on Vivienne’s fate.

I haven’t played Magic: The Gathering in a long time. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, but I consider myself a casual fan. I will play when the opportunity arises, but I won’t go out of my way to find a game to play. My uncle surprised our board game group with the Commander Decks from Bloomburrow, the Magic: set with a cute animal theme. I haven’t had a chance to play any cards out of Bloomburrow, so it was a nice surprise. I wanted to share my chosen Commander Deck and how the deck worked.

Honestly, I did not choose a deck based on that deck’s ability. I saw the Racoon on the box and snatched it before anyone else could claim it. The commander in this deck is “Bello, Bard of the Brambles”. He’s a 3/3 for 3 mana. His creature type is a Racoon Bard. Look at how adorable this card is! This trash panda is casting spells like nobody’s business. Bello’s ability allows players to turn their artifacts into indestructible elementals to swing at opponents. Another portion of this ability that I like is that it’s only on your turn. This is neat because it makes it difficult to target the stuff on my board since my artifacts are creatures at some point and flip back to artifacts. Certain cards in Magic: are written to target certain card types, so it made it more difficult for my opponents to destroy my stuff.

While I did not win this game, I had a blast. I had Bello out on the field including a vehicle that’s basically the Magic: version of a hamster ball. I would attack my opponents and create hamsters. It was awesome. I think I had close to 10 hamsters on my side of the board. I told everyone at the table that all I wanted to do was see my commander’s ability work and it definitely did.

I loved this deck! It’s been a while since I played a game of Commander where I had this much fun. I may try the other Bloomburrow decks, but this one will forever be my favorite.

During October, the World of Darkness Discord would release news, new products, and content relating to Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and Hunter: The Reckoning. Towards the end of the month, a new trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was released. Bloodlines 2 has been a long-awaited game that’s been delayed and picked up by various studios. Will this game be good? I hope so, but I won’t keep my hopes up.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is a sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines a game released in 2004. Before you ask, no, I haven’t played Bloodlines. This game came out before I started getting into gaming and before I was introduced to Vampire. At the time, Bloodlines was considered a commercial failure. In the years since Bloodlines was released, it’s developed a cult following with gamers playing the game and citing that for the period it was released, it’s a decent game. I can’t say much more about that since I haven’t played it.

In 2015, video game publisher Paradox Interactive purchased White Wolf, the publisher behind Vampire, Werewolf, and Hunter. This is when there were rumblings that a sequel to Bloodlines could be possible. In 2019 the game was formally delayed and another delay was announced in 2020. In 2021, one of the developers left the project and there were talks of canceling the game altogether. In 2023, The Chinese Room was brought in to finish the game. I was under the impression that the game was supposed to come out in October of this year, but the release date was pushed into 2025. For those who aren’t gamers, I would equate this situation to the Disney Star Wars movies having two different directors. When you have multiple creative companies working on something, it can be messy. This has left fans wondering, will this game be any good?

With the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, I think there’s more pressure for Bloodlines 2 to be the Vampire: The Masquerade version of that. When I think about what I want from the game, I want to create my own character. I can pick her clan, what she looks like, how she feeds, and her flaws. I can wander around an open-world Seattle, completing missions and undergoing side quests. I can maintain a reputation, do I help people? or am I close to breaching the masquerade? I want to have reasons to replay the game. Based on what I know from the game, players choose a pre-made vampire character. It’s a bummer if I can’t customize my own character.

I watched the Bloodlines 2 trailer twice. Putting aside everything I talked about, the game looks good. I liked how the characters were revealed. I am more drawn to Safia, the Tremere, or Lou, the Venture. Do we get to play as all of these characters? or do you choose one for the whole game? I’m not sure. When it comes down to it, it’s not the game fans would have wanted, but I guess we will take what we can get.

I mentioned this before, but I hope this game is good. If Bloodlines 2 is decent, it could catapult Vampire: The Masquerade into more mainstream TTRPGs. If it isn’t good, then the game will fade into obscurity. I’m not going to pre-order the game yet, I want to see the reviews once it comes out. If you have been following Bloodlines 2 for a while, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Last weekend, me and my brother drove a few hours away to visit friends. Our main goal was to set up regular gaming days as we always talked about getting together more frequently throughout the year and it wouldn’t happen. Our main goal was to find time to play Kingdom Death, a horror cooperative miniature game. My first introduction to Kingdom Death was at Gen Con in 2019. The line for Kingdom Death’s booth is massive. I have always wanted to try playing Kingdom Death and it finally happened. I liked Kingdom Death and would play the game again, but Kingdom Death is not for the weak.

As mentioned, Kingdom Death is a horror, miniature game. Unlike Warhammer where players go up against each other, in Kingdom Death, players have to work together to set up a settlement, build resources, and go up against monsters. I was warned that Kingdom Death is brutal and that’s absolutely the case. I went through three characters who all died by the end. To begin the game, each player is given a sheet to name their character and provide basic stats. I jokingly named my character Mariah as I thought it would be funny to name my character after myself knowing they wouldn’t live long. After setting up our characters, we did a prologue section where our group went after a White Lion. After succeeding, we made camp and began to create our settlement. I had rolled for our group and rolled a 1, therefore, our settlement was much smaller than we would have liked.

This is where things started to deteriorate for our group. Our characters had to begin a hunt to collect resources to make weapons and armor. We went up against another White Lion and I had wounded the creature. To make matters worse, I gained the White Lion’s testes, which made me the permanent target for the lion. Oops. As such, I was mauled and my character died. Our whole group kept rolling so poorly that we all ended up being TPKed (total party kill). As we returned to camp, we gained resources, but in a settlement encounter, two more members of our settlement were killed, so only four people remained. This meant that if we didn’t survive the next encounter, we would lose the game since everyone in our settlement died.

What I enjoyed most about Kingdom Death is how players have to work together. I struggled to get into miniature games in the past for a multitude of reasons. I found it difficult to keep my armies straight and predict how my opponent would move their army. With Kingdom Death, we all struggled together, so I found it bound us together when times were tough. Another thing I loved about Kingdom Death is the minis. The minis are horrifying. The Screaming Antelope is disgusting with its belly opening into a huge mouth with massive teeth. The White Lion, while basic, is a menacing mini. There are multiple other creatures and bosses we didn’t have time to face, but my friend showed me those minis and they are detailed. I could see myself buying and painting Kingdom Death minis in the future even if I don’t play them.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Kingdom Death as I went into the game not knowing much. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed our session. I can understand why the game is as popular as it is. I would be open to playing Kingdom Death again. If I do opt to go to Gen Con again next year, I will swing by Kingdom Death’s booth and maybe I will purchase a mini this time.

It’s been a bit since I last played a Nancy Drew PC game. This is the eleventh Nancy Drew game I played and I still am not halfway done with completing all of them. I was contemplating which game I wanted to play next and figured Midnight in Salem would be a good pick since it takes place in Salem, MA. Midnight in Salem is a departure from the previous Nancy Drew games, but I don’t think that’s bad.

Midnight in Salem begins with Nancy investigating a room in a castle. Her father, Carson Drew, asks Nancy to look for a book. When she finds it in a hidden compartment, a thief shows up to steal the book. While Nancy does her best to recover it, the thief gets away. Meanwhile, Nancy is called to Salem to help investigate a fire set on a historical building. Someone in the town is blamed for the crime, but Nancy is not convinced she did it. As usual, Nancy talks to the townsfolk, goes on a ghost-walking tour, and discovers the true culprit.

I mentioned how Midnight in Salem was a departure from the previous games. The controls in this game were noticeably different. To view an area, I had to hold down the right mouse and move it around to see an area versus the point-and-click motion from the previous games. At first, this was clunky and I did not like it. However, once I was used to it, it was fine. Another noticeable change was Nancy’s smartphone. Instead of logging her tasks in her journal, she has her phone which lists her task list. Most of the Nancy Drew games came out in the early 2000s, so I liked how this game made her character more modern. With the tasklist, I felt the tasklist was short and concise. In previous games, there would be eight or nine tasks to complete. This task list featured broad goals and it made the game way more straightforward than other games I played in the franchise.

When I played Midnight in Salem, it reminded me of Ghost of Thornton Hall because there were jump scares in both games. To be clear, I do not do well with jump scares or horror games, so while I may think this game has jump scares, some might disagree. I thought it made for the perfect game to play before Halloween.

With this being a more recent Nancy Drew game, I liked the inclusion of achievements. There are 23 achievements to unlock. Most of them are story related and there are a few that I didn’t unlock when I first played the game. I like the inclusion of achievements because it adds replay value to the game. If I want to play this game again, it gives me something new to unlock.

Midnight in Salem has some mixed reviews on Steam and I get it. This game is different than other Nancy Drew games. Once I got past the initial shock of this being a different game, I found myself enjoying this game a lot. I loved the setting, the mystery, and the history revealed throughout Nancy’s time in Salem. I’d put Midnight in Salem towards the top of my list of favorite Nancy Drew games I have played.

I have been a player at Badwolf Adventure Studios for almost three years. I have played in two full campaigns switching from biweekly to weekly. I was not planning on joining a second campaign at Badwolf considering there’s a financial component since I pay for my sessions. On top of that, our weekly game fills the Dungeons & Dragons itch for me. This was valid until I saw Badwolf advertising a Vampire: The Masquerade campaign starting biweekly on Fridays.

If you read my post about Vampire: The Masquerade, you will know how much I love this system. I have never been a part of anything longer than a one-shot, so having this opportunity to play in a Chronicle; I couldn’t pass it up. With anything financial, it’s important to talk about finances with your partner. I wouldn’t have signed up for this campaign without talking to my husband first. After revisiting our budget, we made room for this campaign addition.

We had our session zero last Friday and I thought it went well. Session zeroes are the pre-session as it were. This is where players create their characters together, discuss topics that make players uncomfortable, and talk about how our vampires know each other before the game starts. I think session zeroes are something all tables should do and that’s especially true for Vampire: The Masquerade. With Vampire: being as dark as it is, there’s a bit of vulnerability from the players, and playing Vampire: without a session zero is not a great way to start the game. We accomplished a lot with our session zero and I’m curious to see how this will unfold in the ongoing sessions.

Once my character has been finalized, I will post more about her because she is something else. There are some things I’m working through such as her first name, her back story, and how she became a vampire. I am looking forward to getting back into Vampire: and seeing her develop in the upcoming sessions.