Horror games usually delight in making their players feel terrified and powerless, but that's not the only feeling the genre can conjure up. Campy horror might be more associated with late-night B movies, but it has its place in games, too, as with the new tactical RPG . And while it became one of my most anticipated RPGs leading up to its much-delayed release, Demonschool 's lighthearted take on horror leaves it feeling a bit weightless now that it's finally here.
These workhorses are usually tasked with maneuvering players into position for the final episode's climax, ideally making the journey to those marks feel natural. Pacing is an issue. The audience can sense when a series has taken its foot off the gas, but penultimate episodes almost have to - characters can't make too much headway. In lieu of major resolutions that could diminish the impact of the season finale, the loose ends of less important storylines get tied up, often to underwhelming effect.
It's got a surprising amount of depth with its customizable builds, a wide spread of tracks referencing history, and its races are chaotic, fast-paced fun. But one of the best things the game does happens just before the races. In single-player modes, you're pitted against a specific Rival racer, and before the first race, they'll exchange some words with whoever you're playing as. These brief back-and-forths are absolutely delightful, and show that everyone in the cast is a professional trash talker.
To call A Big Bold Beautiful Journey a discount version of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind would be giving it way too much credit. First of all, this new film, written by Seth Reiss and directed by Kogonada, absolutely cost a lot more. Second, its main characters, David and Sarah, are nowhere near as tangible as Joel and Clementine, the hapless lovers in the 2004 Michel Gondry classic.
Austin Butler has proved himself something of a savant at playing aloof beauties like the impulsive Benny in The Bikeriders, the cultish internet grifter Vernon in , the sociopathic princeling Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two, or Elvis - men whose vacancy only enhances their undeniable magnetism. But in Darren Aronofsky's new '90s-set crime comedy Caught Stealing, Butler plays a character who doesn't get the benefit of being perceived primarily from a distance, and it's a fascinatingly terrible fit.