Raycevick's Recommendations: November 2018

Apologies for my absence on Patreon, clocking 40+ hours in Mass Effect: Andromeda for the past week has taken its tole and I've still got more to go; I'll be informing you of the process on that work in future posts.

Sword Art Online: Abridged

Sometimes, you just wanna laugh.

While I don't follow the mindset of entertainment needs to be measured by "fun" exclusively, there's no denying that after a day's work, sitting down and laughing throughout an episode of SAO: Abridged with a friend isn't appealing to me.

Most Abridged's I've come across operate at the laugh per-season of Saturday Night Live, but I think what makes SAO's consistently funny is even when a joke's telegraphed from a mile away, the production and presentation's done so well that it still exceeds my expectations. Ain't no cheap mics or cringy edgelord material here. Though like the Ghost Stories Dub which I've recommended in the past, bring a friend along for the ride.

Matilda by Stateless

And now for something, completely different.

My ever-changing taste in music is likely why I typically give games multiple chances to catch my interest. Stateless is a group I previously only knew from their hit-single Bloodstream and one track off of this album from its usage in the show Continuum.

But after finally sitting down and listening to the record, I've come to realize Stateless's production and sheer variety is almost majestic. The fast hard-hitting notes of Assassins is a beautiful contrast with I'm on Fire that gives me goosebumps despite replaying it for years.

It doesn't quite have the pacing to listen from start to finish without pause, and Visions is still my least favorite track with a melody that just doesn't click, but that's a small price to pay for a record as good as this.

The Cabin in the Woods by Drew Goddard

I was reminded of this work by a recent exchange I had with someone on the bus, he pointed to my Cabin in the Woods sweater. Cheap enough to not be recognized as merch, but official enough for a nerd to know it came from a film-set. I didn't work on the film, but my Father did.

Without any context for the scenes he worked on, and the troubled production, it didn't seem crazy to think that Cabin in the Woods was just another crappy horror movie made in Vancouver. Oh how wrong we were...

I don't typically ask this of people, but definitely stick with this movie until the third-act, as that's when the film really comes together and becomes something wonderful even for gamers only familiar with the likes of Left 4 Dead, and F.E.A.R.