Binged S1 of "Invincible" and there's no question of me not continuing. I can understand the appeal; the hype accompanying successive seasons, the figurines, the cosplayers... This isn't your average boy-discovers-he-has-superpowers-then-must-learn-to-employ-them-wisely chronicle. I mean, it is sort of that. But with a stellar voice cast*, hip soundtrack, the shockingest shocks (if the climax of Episode 1 doesn't grab you, nothing will), messy adult situations, subplots that don't wait for the hero to be ready, and absolutely BRUTAL fights that always have nasty consequences. In an entertainment world where "Spider-Man" is about to be reset for the 50th time, so they can ultimately feed us the same ol' crap over again, it's refreshing to enter a fantasy universe where we don't already know the heroes and villains and NPCs, their backstories, the secret organisations, the monsters, the aliens, the limits of magic and technology, Earth history to that point, and even dramatic stuff such as who is "meant to" end up with whom. As gobsmacking as Ep. 1's twist was, it barely compares to what transpires in Ep. 8. And why leave us with a single ominous glimpse of a future threat, makers of "Invicible", when you can pummel us with six or seven in a row? Crikey.
*Check it out: Yeun, Oh, Simmons, Jacobs, Beetz, Goggins, Flockhart, Quinto, Hamill, Dorn, Rogen, Maslany, Burton, Pace, Delaney, Mara, Bradley, Campbell, Mulgrew, etc, etc.)
Beat "Forbidden Solitaire" in a sitting (good and bad endings, 29/30 achievos). The premise is that you stumble onto a banned horror-themed puzzle game from the days of CD-ROM - that you weren't allowed to have as a kid - and gleefully begin playing. Meanwhile, equally nostalgic-curious, your sister starts researching the firm responsible for the title and the surrounding controversy, regularly messaging you her findings (video as well as photos and clippings). On that note, the game's cut scenes are presented in the more-goofy-than-scary, blood-splattered graphics we all remember from the '90s, and the main screen is a retro desktop. The solitaire itself is solid, with location stages and battles, various card corruptions, different types of joker being steadily unlocked, plus a wide array of permanent powerups - which take the form of gems embedded in your hand! - available for a purchase from an eyeball behind a wall. They do that thing where the game grows glitchier towards the climax, as if incomplete or haunted or both. Will it crash? Will it suck you in? The story of the dodgy goings-on at the fictional company actually sucked me in, surprisingly. Be prepared for a few "false finishes" (to borrow a pro-wrestling term) as the action becomes increasingly surreal, then enjoy a "Portal"-style closing-credits song that reminded me of '70s prog rock if you manage to attain the good ending.
