shinymcshine

Indian Takeaway (2008) - autobiographical journey of self discovery through India by Hardeep Singh Kohli. Enjoyable tale of how Scottish Indian Hardeep (London born, but grew up in Glasgow) goes on a trip around India, cooking the occasional British dish for friends & family he meets up with on the way, and seeking his 'identity'. Picked up in charity shop for holiday reading, had vague memory that he's hosted the One Show occasionally and been on MasterChef. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of his current history and why he'd not been on the TV much (until I'd finish the book and googled what he's been up to). Damn !

Here's a photo (from BGG) as to what a typical build in Descent (3rd Ed) Legends of the Dark boardgame looks like - you get all the scenery, a bunch of minis and bespoke dice (each hero rolls a different dice combo). It builds progressively as you explore each room, so you get that anticipation of suspense, as you venture into the unknown - whilst the app directs what is placed where, what enemies appear and their behaviour, and what puzzles and chests etc might appear. Inbetween quests there's a downtime area, village, where you can level up and craft new gear. I know it's all a little straightforward in videogame terms, but it's pretty great as a social boardgame, almost a hybrid D&D experience (without needing a GM) - and the physical components, including tiered terrain and environmental effect tiles, really make more of a kinesthetic impact than a videogame offers. One problem is, it comes in around £100 (RRP) so not likely to appeal too much to non boardgamers. For wider consideration - FFG have been dabbling with app supported games, in a similar vein, but different theming for 10 years or so - Mansions of Madness (2nd Ed, Cthulhu themed) and LotR Journey in Middle Earth both use a similar mechanic. 'Arkham Horror Mothers Embrace" brought a videogame take on Mansions of Madness a few years ago.

Coming in the Spring from Fantasy Flight Games - as an extension of the Descent boardgame universe, Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent! Delve into its deep and dark dungeons right away with a demo available starting today on Steam, ahead of the full game release later this spring! Launching on PC, Mac, PlayStation® 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the game blends real-time exploration with deep, turn-based tactical battles, playable solo or in online co-op. As a fan of the boardgame, then I'm looking forward to this - the 1st Ed of the boardgame required a GM v players, the 2nd Ed launched similar but then added an app so the GM role was done via that, the 3rd Ed was natively app supported - all involved a tile laid dungeon to reveal as the players explored, with enemies and challenges to overcome. https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2026/2/10/terrinoth-heroes-of-descent/

After Act 3 it's...

Finished the latest Dan Brown book "The Secret of Secrets". Can't add much to what this Guardian review surmised: "This is, in other words, a Dan Brown novel. It’s weapons-grade bollocks from beginning to end, none of it makes a lick of sense, and you’ll roar through it with entire enjoyment if you like this sort of thing. Welcome back, big fella." And yes, I did enjoy it too !

Seems a bit weird to take a popular videogame, with a reasonable plotline and some decent actors, then make a movie that isn't really anything at all like that game ! Yes, the Until Dawn (2025) movie - what a bunch of garbage - it's right down there with the Uwe Boll 'adaptations'.

Still progressing on a NG+ playthough - and it's still somewhat unremarkable overall - but I'm doing way more free wandering, daytime and nighttime on the hope that something more interesting or challenging turns up, but it's feeling unlikely. Don't quite know how or why they dropped the ball with this, and rather than building on the Dark Arisen vibe it feels like a backwards step (even the main quest is nowhere near as engaging as the first game) so all I can think of is they built it based upon the DD Online game (which never got a western release). Even if the dropped in the occasional mimic chest it'd relieve some of the repetition.

There's a few jump scares, but I'd say it's not overtly 'horrific' (in terms of gore) - so more a tense thriller in most parts rather than a horror, but there's also a few elements of lightness - it's certainly worth experiencing. And if you like Dever, then she is in the vast majority of scenes.

Or maybe, if you can pick up a Series S or X for half the price, it could actually reverse the MS slump !?!? But that might rely on MS getting a positive marketing pitch right - so no chance.

No one Will Save You (2023) - movie starring Kaitlyn Dever on D+. Really quite an odd take on the alien invasion theme, but there's a compelling hook to the storytelling that kept me engaged throughout (I'll explain below, albeit you might just want to experience it yourself). Overall, I liked it !

I think it's just a personal thing, as I'm not really a shooter game fan, but occasionally I'll play one, and really vibe with it, then try another and the magic just isn't there for me. e.g. When they were on PS+ I loved Sniper Elite V2 on PS4, but sacked off Sniper Elite 4 within a couple of hours

I'm never quite sure how CEX makes it's money - yes they buy off you cheaply and mark up prices for sale, but I just don't see that many people actually buying the shelf stock !?!?

In a more 'holistic' way.... Singstar games peaked on PS2, and were terrible on later gens Rockband / GH peaked on 360 / PS3, and we're terrible on later gens And they count in this category, as the within gen releases were really just extended DLCs rather than being proper 'sequels'.

Dishonored Bioshock Timesplitters Borderlands Dragon Age Dragon's Dogma (Dark Arisen was fantastic, DD2 isn't).

I really enjoyed the first game, but just couldn't get on with the sequel for some reason. Maybe it's a thing for a Hot Topic "Games where you loved the first game in the series but not the sequels" - clearly a snappy title - and it's more about something that for some reason didn't click with you, rather than necessarily suggesting that the sequels were bad games at all ! For me that'd include ; Dishonored; Bioshock; Borderlands; Timesplitters.