All I did this month was sample nigiri and cook Spaghetti all’Assassina. Nothing else happened.

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This month’s playlist:

Mother!

Mother! is the most profound experience I had this month. Unfortunately, I can’t discuss it in detail without spoilers. It truly is a film you need to discover as you watch it. All I can say is that nothing has made me sob that hard in years.

Horizon: Forbidden West

Horizon is great in so many ways yet my feelings toward it are lukewarm. It’s probably the best looking game on Playstation. Shooting robot dinosaurs with a bow is fun. Every character is exceptionally realized through writing, performance, and animation. Side quests feel just as essential as the main plot. It’s a gold standard for the AAA open world action RPG. And I started the game almost reluctantly.

There are a few elements I don’t like about Horizon, but to the game’s credit, it doesn’t force you to engage with them. I enjoyed my time playing. This franchise just doesn’t excite me going in. What keeps me is the genuinely interesting world that plays host to solid sci-fi themes. They get pretty crazy in this one!

I played through the campaign of Killzone: Shadow Fall after completing Horizon and it revealed two things about the developer: Gorilla makes pretty games, and they know their sci-fi. I need to remember that when their next game releases.

Uzumaki

I’m finally giving Junji Ito the attention he deserves. Horror manga/comics are interesting because jump scares are nearly impossible on the page. Even reading Ito’s work at night in the dark before bed, I haven’t found it scary. I would instead describe these tales as disturbing, shocking, gory, dark, and sometimes goofy. All entertaining. His tales are delightfully demented.

Uzumaki has been my favorite so far. It’s a wonderful blend of weird creepiness that careens into an imaginatively eldritch conclusion that leaves your questions unanswered because the answers would be incomprehensible. Ito’s Lovecraftian influence is obvious, but his illustrations and voice are unique.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

The sequel series to Mobile Suit Gundam does not disappoint. It’s more of what made the original great with higher fidelity animation, excellent new and returning characters, and best in class mech combat. It’s continued anti-war themes without clear “good guys” and “bad guys” remains refreshing.

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This month I also wrote new ekphrastic flash fiction.