Hey gang,
If you’re in a location still in the brunt of COVID infections, I hope you’re surviving quarantine (please wear a mask when going outside).
I’ve been trying to keep spirits up by catching up on a few things. I spent the last couple of weeks finally playing through Assassin’s Creed: Origins. When launched, it was considered a reboot of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. I bought it early on, but I was about three major installments behind (I believe I’d just finished AC 3). I binged Blag Flag, Unity, and Syndicate last year, but wasn’t ready to take on another one — especially after hearing that Origins was the longest one yet. After hearing that AC: Valhalla is coming this fall, I decided to play through Origins. I want to be ready for some Vikinging (is that a word?) this fall when it releases.
Over all, I’d say that Origins was a lot of fun. It took me a few hours to really feel integrated into the world. The protagonist, Bayek of Siwa, starts the story as a vengeful loner. His son was killed due to the machinations of a group of Machiavellian figures that are eventually revealed to be the Order of the Ancients (which I presume is the predecessor to the traditional enemies of the assassins: the Templars). Bayek hunts down each member of this order one by one until they are all dead. Standard revenge plot. The story started to feel more inviting to me once Bayek began to build his network of of old friends and new compatriots — which includes his wife Aya, who has also turned to revenge at the death of her son. If you haven’t played it, I definitely recommend doing so.
I seriously think that an Assassin’s Creed tabletop RPG would be amazing. Imagine playing one of the modern day Assassins, going on modern missions that require historical background. That background takes the characters into the Animus, which then allows the players to overlay a historical Assassin character on top of their modern counterpart. I think the concept would be a blast. :) If I thought I could invest the time into it, I’d go after that IP so hard. :)
In addition to AC: Origins, I’ve been catching up on a few shows. I recently binged the first season of Doom Patrol and am currently watching the first few episodes of season 2 as I type this. It is seriously a great, messed up show. It follows a band of eccentrically super-powered misfits (very much not heroes by their own definition) who have to deal with how messed up they are in order to survive saving the world due to ridiculous circumstances. I’m just happy to have Brendan Fraser in something I can watch.
A world of super powered misfits with messed up personal issues? I think this could possibly be done as a Home by Dark homebrew! I may have to try this.
Misfit News!
Speaking off Home by Dark and misfits, I have news about our upcoming book: Misfit Tales! Our intrepid artist, Maxx Marshall, has sent the final version of our new playset’s splash art! That was the last piece of interior art we needed! We’ve locked our interior layout! Woo hoo!
Unfortunately, our cover artist has been too busy to complete the cover art. Maxx has taken that up and I hope to have some news on that very soon! The cover is the last step before finalizing the book, which means we’re very close to completion! I can’t wait to get this book into your hands!
Until then, please stay safe. I’m hoping to get some social events going. If I can’t game with you at cons, then maybe there are other ways we can have fun this summer!
Talk soon, gang!
— Jason