Reviews

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review

We didn’t get to buy Tears of the Kingdom when it first came out. We’ve both been lifelong players of The Legend of Zelda games. But, when TotK was released we were both unemployed. Dorian worked a temporary freelance job and got the game for free on his Nintendo Switch to review. But his job didn’t last long and so he never got far into the game.

Finally able to play the game all the way through together, here are our thoughts!


Overview

Tears of the Kingdom takes place directly after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There aren’t many Zelda games that do that. Even though Majora’s Mask was directly after Ocarina of Time, it still did not use the same world map and have the same repeat characters.

Ultimately, I think that is what we both loved and grew a bit tired of in this game. It was so much fun to meet the same characters again, but older and wiser. And it was fun to already feel familiar with the map and the towns. It was like coming home. But, there are some repetitive elements that the game could have gone without.


The Story

When you play a Zelda game, you expect an excellent story. This one was no different. The characters are well-rounded and the danger feels real. There are plenty of mysteries to explore, and you are invested in the world. This game keeps the focus on historical events and how they impact the present. That being said, while Zelda shook off most of the “damsel in need of rescuing” stereotype, we aren’t entirely free from it. That comes as a disappointment, since when news of the game first broke, fans rallied online to be able to play the game as Zelda, or at least back and forth between Zelda and Link. For those familiar with the plot of the game, playing between the two actually would have worked out seamlessly.


The Gameplay

Gameplay centers around learning to use special powers given to you via an attachment on your arm. Mastering these are central to overcoming obstacles and solving puzzles, though they don’t play a big role in combat. If you enjoy building and creating, then you will absolutely love this feature.

There are three maps to navigate across the game. The massive surface map of Hyrule is the same as in Breath of the Wild, though slightly altered due to events in the game. There are also sky islands to explore. While they are important in certain quest lines, we didn’t spend much time exploring them as navigating them proves to be extremely difficult and time consuming. The final map is the underground Depths. We stumbled upon this by accident, having not started the official quest that introduces you to this area. We were shocked! The Depths offers a fun, grueling adventure map where survival is your first priority. While it has a few key story points, the Depths are mainly used for finding really good loot.


The Side Quests

I have mixed feelings about the side quests in Tears of the Kingdom. Some are a great deal of fun. We especially enjoyed the quests with Penn at the stables as they often had a good deal of humor mixed in with them. The introduction of caves also allowed for some exploration side quests.

However, many are simply carried over from Breath of the Wild and we grew easily bored of them. For example, finding the korok seeds reappears, but we would have preferred a new system for expanding your weapon carrying capacity. The shrines make another appearance, key teleport points and opportunities to get more hearts and stamina. Again, we would have preferred something in the same spirit as the shrines but fresh and new.


Conclusion

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, is a fun adventure game full of heart. It’s three separate world maps, weapon fusion and building gameplay, and characters cement it as another fantastic title in this series. Honestly, the final section of the boss fight is one of the most cinematic of all Zelda games. Despite the repetitive feeling of some quests, we recommend it to any gamer who wants an immersive fantasy adventure.


Reviews

Flavors of the Multiverse Cookbook Review

Our thoughts on the new Heroes’ Feast Flavors of the Multiverse official D&D Cookbook.


We received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We make no money off of this product and are not affiliated with it.

The first D&D official cookbook, Heroes’ Feast, came out many years ago. A couple of the recipes we still use today, though we’ve done our own variations on them over time. Flavors of the Multiverse is a follow-up, providing more fantasy-based cuisine for you to try.

The book is quite pretty and quite hefty. There are 200+ pages of recipes, art, and short stories. It’s well thought out and well-composed, making cooking fun for those who are inexperienced at it.


Is it Healthy?

I wouldn’t consider the book as a whole to be a healthy cookbook. Most of the recipes require sugar and fats. Some of their healthier recipes, like the Chopforest salad, tend to be side dishes rather than full meals. It would be difficult to customize most of these meals to be healthier.


Is it Allergen or Diet-Friendly?

If you have allergies such as dairy or gluten, or follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, you won’t find much here. They stick with the stereotypical fantasy genre meal that more has roots in our own imagination of what medieval life is like rather than the reality. Such as the fact that almond milk was frequently used in the Middle Ages, and that meat was not eaten every day because of hunting variables. Of course, this is set in their own universe, so they have free reign over what they consider standard food.

flavors of the multiverse

Is There a Variety of Recipes?

No. As mentioned above, they stick with what stereotypical fantasy cultures should eat. It would be nice to see more dishes inspired by Asian, African, or Latino cuisine. What they do have is some side dishes, plenty of dinner dishes, various drinks, and desserts. Here’s some of what you can expect:

  • Goldenstars: baked pasty pockets filled with sausage, potato, and leeks. Contains: sugar, gluten, eggs, and dairy.
  • Halfling Game Birds: a chicken wing dish.
  • Fried Soy with Vegetables: a skillet tofu and veggie dish. Contains: soy and sugar.
  • Spiced Pork and Orange Peppers: baked pork on a bed of spicy peppers.
  • Fire-Wrapped Golden Fish: fried fish meal. Contains: gluten.
  • Undermountain Alurlyath: a sherry-based drink with lemon and cucumber.
  • Green Dragon Blackbread Muffins: a pumpernickel-like bread. Contains: gluten, dairy, sugar, and eggs.

Will TTRPG Players Like It?

I believe so. Anything that encourages more cooking at home is a useful tool and a great way to bring people together. There’s plenty of traditional and some more interesting recipes in the book to teach people new cooking skills. Whether you want to cook up a full meal for the game, snacks, or just whip up some drinks, there are so many recipes here to choose from. It has plenty of helpful tips and encourages the use of fresh ingredients. Despite the limitations of its breadth, it is still a fun book to have on hand for most D&D parties.

You can purchase Flavors of the Multiverse here.


Reviews

Mystery Dice: A Review

We talk about the mystery dice bags offered by MysteryDiceGoblins on Etsy.


We got our hands on three mystery dice bags from the creative Etsy shop, MysteryDiceGoblins. This shop has everything a Dungeons & Dragons fan could want, including digital battlemap tokens, themed cards for celebrations, character sheets, pins, mats, trays, jewelry, and more. We got a first-hand look at one of the products they offer, the Mystery Dice. You can order these to have specific types of dice, such as only D20s or a full set. It is a surprise what is inside, though you can let the seller know if you have a color preference.


The Packaging

Given how affordable these bags are, we were pleasantly surprised at how cute the packaging is. They come in branded bags that are excellent quality. They are durable and travel well. The shop is located in the United Kingdom, and despite being shipped all the way to the U.S. and taken to the beach with us, the bags were in perfect condition.


The Dice

We loved all three sets we got. There was a lovely amber-colored set that caught the sunlight just right. A very pretty aqua and white set, and a detailed runic set with hard edges. They are all beautiful, high-quality dice. We already divided them up and are eager to start rolling!


The Experience

As any TTRPG player knows, collecting dice is easily addicting. Even when you play on a digital map with digital character sheets, there is something about rolling physical dice that is good fun.

The excitement about mystery dice is, well, the mystery! It’s like opening a birthday present. Or seeing Amazon drop off your package. A little burst of excitement about opening up a gift for yourself.


Conclusion

The Mystery Dice bags and the shop itself puts other, more expensive shops to shame. The attention to detail, the high quality, and the fun makes this an excellent purchase for all DnD fans.

Visit the MysteryDiceGoblins shops on Etsy.

Note: We received the product in exchange for our fair and honest review. We make no money from links to the Etsy shop and have no affiliation.


Reviews

Inkarnate Review

We give our thoughts on Inkarnate, a digital map-building software!


Inkarnate is popular in the world of online content creators. It boasts a digital map-building software with a particular focus on fantasy. You can create massive world maps, or highly detailed maps of building interiors. With various styles, effects, and features, Inkarnate continues to grow and expand every year.

Note that every map in this article was built by us in Inkarnate so you can see first-hand what an average person (and not a paid map designer) can create.

Made with Inkarnate.com

What Are the Features?

When you begin to create a new map, you already get many options to choose from. A Fantasy World Map, a Parchment World Map, a Fantasy Regional Map, a Watercolor Battlemap, and a Watercolor City Map. Of course, no matter what you choose when you actually get into the editing stage, you can do whatever you want. But this helps streamline the process if you have a particular project in mind.

After that, you can choose the size of map you want based on how many tiles it has. This can be customized to your exact dimensions. Once you enter the creation mode, the choices feel endless! Here is just an overview of what you can add:

  • A backdrop effect such as water, snow, tile, or lava.
  • The ability to shape your terrain with a variety of brushes.
  • “Stamps” that let you fill it in that are both 2D, 3D, or old-school map icons.
  • Stamps include mountains, hills, rivers, ground cracks, furniture, gravestones, lights, buildings, boats, plants, monsters, people, ruins, crops, weapons, and much more!
  • You can add Text and stylize it.
  • You can draw paths on your map.
  • You can add, remove, and alter grids.
  • You can add special overlays and effects.

Is it User-Friendly?

There is definitely a learning curve with Inkarnate. It was more difficult in the past, but it’s become much more user-friendly across the years. That being said, some patience is involved as you figure out how to fill in your map. Once you learn it, though, it feels very easy and simple.


How Much Does it Cost?

The awesome thing is Inkarnate is free! Anyone can sit down and use it. You can also pay for Inkarnate Pro which is $25 a year. Pro gives you more robust options for map creation, but most importantly it allows you commercial use of the maps you create.


Why Do I Need Inkarnate?

Almost any fantasy-fan creator can get good use from Inkarnate. We use it for maps that we publish in our books. We also use it for our own TTRPG game. If you enjoy playing digitally and don’t want to build a hands-on map, or if you just want a map to reference, Inkarnate has just what you need.


Conclusion

Inkarnate is a fun, fantasy-centered map creator that is perfect for TTRPG roleplayers, authors, and anyone that needs to bring their fantasy world to life. Despite the learning curve, Inkarnate really is versatile and you can easily spend hours entertaining yourself with it. And you don’t often find that with free programs!


Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Holiday Set

We take a look at the Magic: The Gathering Tales of Middle-earth holiday card set!


Magic: The Gathering released a set of Lord of the Rings-themed cards earlier this year. They have been a lot of fun to look at and play in the game. But this November they have released what they are calling the “Tales of Middle-earth Holiday Set”. We got to take an early look at it, and it is currently available to buy.

The box it comes in is very beautiful, and all the art on the cards and display sets shows a real love and care. The box comes with a really fun feature: two large display stands. On one side is epic Lord of the Rings art, and on the other are slots to showcase your favorite cards.

For the fans of the traditional Hildebrandt art, we have Greg and Tim Hildebrandt classic The Lord of the Rings art paired with existing Magic card reprints. Twenty in total, they feature a suite of cards chosen specifically for this treatment.”

Wizards of the Coast press release

Some of the art on the cards are our favorite we’ve come across. There’s memorable characters, locations, and situations. Many of the cards are paired with quotes directly from the books, so you get to enjoy the beautiful writing of Tolkien.

We do enjoy playing Magic games. We have decks inspired by Taliesin, Ruuda, Jade, Jasita, and more Thread of Souls characters. These cards will make really fun additions to update our decks!


Reviews

Baldur’s Gate III – Act II Thoughts


We recently completed Act II of Baldur’s Gate 3, the immersive game based around Dungeons & Dragons. Following up on our thoughts for Act I, here is a spoiler-free overview of Act II.

The Story

The second act of Baldur’s Gate 3 is heavily story-based. From early on you begin to pick up on lore about the largest enemy (or ally, depending on if you are playing a good or evil game), Ketheric Thorm. Through exploring, talking to NPC’s, talking to your own party, and reading documents around the map, you begin to piece together the story of what took place in this shadow-ravaged area.

The storyline is compelling, with complicated characters and fully realized histories. Each step you take leads you to another, and everything logically falls into place. The only thing that stood apart was what felt like a sidequest in the Gauntlet of Shar, but actually was part of the main questline.

The stories you discover here can be depressing. This act is centered on death and destruction on a large scale, with innocent lives caught in the middle. But if you choose a heroic game, it does feel nice to restore goodness to the area once again.


The Gameplay

The fights are a lot of fun, and there are truly some spectacular dungeons. Grymforge was one of our favorites to go through. Aside from one small puzzle in the Gauntlet of Shar, every challenge felt logical, every puzzle made sense, and you were never left wondering what you to do next.

There is a good balance here between peaceful interactions and violence. That is to say, there are areas where you can explore and socialize without fear, and other areas where dangers and horrors are aplenty. The Last Light Inn was a standout location, offering more and more areas of intrigue the further we delved.


The Locations

Beautifully realized locations are across the map with this act in Baldur’s Gate 3. From the soaring peaks of the monastery, to the dark and dangerous shadow lands, the environments invited more and more exploration.

That being said, there were a few areas we chose not to fully explore because they were too disturbing and too gory. Balthazar’s experiments and Reithwin were our top two that we sped through, only hitting the highlights, because of the body horror and grotesque elements. So fair content warning for those curious about the second act.


Overview

All in all, the second act of Baldur’s Gate 3 is deep, story-driven, and offers some truly spectacular locations and dungeons to explore. It’s good fun all around.

Pros: Well-written, fun dungeons, detailed locations, good characters

Cons: Depressing, too gory


Reviews

Book Review – Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker

Our review of Pete Walker’s book focused on Complex PTSD.


I knew I needed to find new ways to cope with my Complex PTSD, or CPTSD. Diagnosed in 2021 and after receiving some therapy and doing a healing journal, in 2022 I still found myself struggling with the symptoms. Of course, in retrospect that is not a long time! But I wanted to learn more, so I could arm myself better against the symptoms.

I stumbled across Pete Walker’s book while browsing my kindle app. What drew me to it most was that the author himself has CPTSD. I thought I could learn a lot from him, and that it would be good to have some validation for what I experience and feel.

“Complex PTSD” is an overview of the tasks of recovering, and an illumination of the silver linings that can come out of effective recovery work. It is also a map of the recovery process, and contains a great many practical tools and techniques for recovering from CPTSD. It is also richly illustrated with examples of his own and others’ journeys of recovering.

Amazon’s Book Summary

The Writing Style

I am an avid reader and writer, but even I did find Walker’s writing style very advanced. It is not something I minded as I love words and discovering new ones. However, the advanced style might deter some from reading it. The sections are laid out logically, and the content flows easily from one subsection to the next.

The Content

This is an all-encompassing book for those struggling with CPTSD. It starts from the basics and works its way through recovery strategies. What I really liked was that Walker began with understanding CPTSD and the different “styles” of it you may experience, based on the Four F’s (Flight, Fight, Freeze, and Fawn). So many times, I found myself nodding enthusiastically, thinking, “Yes, that’s me!”

Walker uses multiple real-world examples from his clients and from himself in how CPTSD impacts daily life, and what to do when a trigger strikes. I found this to be extremely helpful. It has helped me understand why I react to certain things the way I do, and how to navigate those situations.

Walker includes a section toward the end that is useful for therapists and those seeking therapy. It talks about therapy styles and what tends to be the most helpful for CPTSD sufferers.

The Impact

I cannot minimize the positive impact this book had on my life. I still use the strategies and phrases he described, and I understand myself and my emotions better. His section on “emotional flashbacks” was extremely helpful, as this has been the basis for a lot of problems I struggle with.

I cannot recommend enough that anyone struggling with CPTSD reads this book. It will change your life and give you a whole new understanding of your conditions, and a toolset to combat it.


Reviews

Baldur’s Gate 3: Act I Impressions

Our spoiler-free thoughts after playing the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3.


We’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 since we played early access three years ago. The thing that appealed to us most was that we could create our own characters within a TTRPG setting, allowing us to create Taliesin and Ruuda. We always play them, and other characters from our game/book series when allowed to create an entire party. We’ve done it for Pillars of Eternity II, Neverwinter, WWE 2K23, and Solasta. As soon as the game was officially out, we jumped at the opportunity to begin this new adventure.

Character Creation

The character creation is decent. Since we tried to recreate our characters exactly, it was disappointing. When games with less development time like 2K23 allow you to enter your character height by inches and weight by pounds to adjust their physique, we expected to see a game with this much detail allow sliders at the very least. We were super happy you could play a duergar, however. That race always gets overlooked and it is a joy to finally have that option.

The graphics are certainly very pretty; the hair looks soft enough to touch. And the ability to dye your clothes to further customize your look is a wonderful addition. We wish you could preview the dye look before committing to it, though.

Gameplay

The gameplay is extremely user-friendly. You can toggle the camera between characters and swivel it around, giving you much more flexibility than the typical top-down perspective of similar games. You point and click where you want your character to move instead of having to fuss with directing yourself through the keyboard. It is easy to target enemies, and the hot bar has simple navigations to find what you are looking for.

Combat flows really well. You are allowed to scale the difficulty based on if you want to focus more on the story and less on fighting the same boss over and over. The three-dimensional environments allow for some really fun fighting locations.

Story

The story is the heart and soul of Baldur’s Gate 3. The characters have depth, are complicated, and have interesting backstories that influence your quests. You are allowed to make moral decisions, and it isn’t always clear on who to trust. You care about NPC’s, you are driven to explore, and the absolute vast amount of dialogue options allows you to feel like you are truly part of the story.

Overview

The first act of Baldur’s Gate 3 is an epic and dark adventure sweeping you into a fully-fleshed out world. You truly lose track of time when you play this game due to how simply fun it is.

Pros: Beautiful graphics, compelling story, great characters, user-friendly gameplay

Cons: Limited character customization, too gory


Reviews

BEACN Mic and Create Mix – Review

Over the years, I’ve used my fair share of microphones to capture voices and pair them with videos. As soon as I sat down to write this review, I suddenly remembered, the amount of mics I’ve worked with since working in media production. There’s been lavaliers, handheld, studio, and boom microphones. All of them have their purpose but if I had to choose the best for creating content, I’d go with a studio every time.

That’s why when I first saw the BEACN Mic, I was curious to learn more. From its appearance alone, I had a good feeling about it and I’m here to say, I’m not disappointed.

Disclaimer: The BEACN Mic and BEACN Mic Create were provided by BEACN.

I cannot say enough good things about the company and thank them for allowing me to check out the equipment. Having done zero research into the gear beforehand, I jumped in cold and it was worth it.

Plug and Play

The BEACN Mic is a USB mic. Now, before anyone starts any discourse on USB mics, I won’t hear it. As a human being, I once believed XLR mics were the path all professionals should use and I swore by that. However, that is no longer the case. I’ve changed my ways like the ring light on the BEACN Mic changes colors. USB mics such as the BEACNs can be just as professional and high-quality as the XLR you find in voice actor booths across the world. Out of the box it comes with one USB cable for the mic and one for the Create that runs from the both to your computer. You don’t need a fancy external interface, but you will need BEACN’s app to run the mic and BEACN Mix Create.

I need to talk about the USB cables themselves, as they are sturdy and quite lengthy. Their size is by no means a negative, but rather a boon. Having extra cable length ensures you get the optimum reach required for your setup. Plus, you can always hide them or tie them up with zip ties. Like they’re really really long. It’s great.

BEACN Mic

The mic itself comes in a pill shape style with a changeable ring light in the center. It’s lightweight and easy to move around if you need to take it on the go or move it from room A to room B. And with the lengthy USB cable, you can move around your work area like a live reporter out on assignment. Yet, with all that moving you’d expect to get a lot of feedback or outside noise as you moved about. However, that’s not the case with the BEACN Mic.

Actual moving about noise

Noise Suppression

What really peaked interest in the mic, is how it handles noise suppression. When we first started our live streaming journey, we noticed a lot of external noises such as the computer fan, keyboard clacking, and game audio were being picked up by our mics. Having tested the BEACN Mic against the others, the sound quality vastly improved. The external noises were reduced or completely gone when using the BEACN equipment. Even without messing with anything in the app.

Ring Light

The addition of a ring light around the center of the mic is just fun. It’s a visually pleasing feature that offers entertainment to an already entertaining piece of equipment. It’s great for live streaming and adds a bit of flair and uniqueness to the streamer and the mic itself. The light can be changed 20 different colors, be a blend of two, rotate between multiple, or be configured to light up with your voice or specific audio. It’s a gimmick, but as Jeremy Clarkson said, “what’s wrong with a gimmick? That’s brilliant!”

BEACN App and Mix Create

The BEACN App is where you’ll find everything that fuels the microphone. It’s an all in one interface that gives you full control over sound quality, expander, compression, noise suppression, the color of the ring light, and other hardware you may be running. It really makes you feel like you’re in control of the audio production center at a recording booth. You know the ones, where the performer is standing in a soundproofed room behind a glass window. You’re the person making sure their audio is clear, pristine, and doesn’t peak.

You choose your own personal mix and audience mix. Basically this gives you access to where the sound is sent. You can either choose your headphones or another speaker to send the audio to and you can switch between them by moving the fader or holding down a knob on the Create for a few seconds. Whereas the audience mix is what the audience hears. You have full control of what goes out live to them versus what you hear. If you wanted to listen to your music without it going live over the air, you’re free to do just that. You’ll also be able to monitor audio levels from here to ensure they are correct.

On top of all that, you can control additional components in the app as well. Say, you’re streaming through Twitch and have a game running, music playing, and your mic audio. Once you’ve configured each into it’s own channel, you can control them through either the app or the BEACN Mix Create. The app uses faders to control audio levels for each component whereas the Create uses knobs. Both are seamless and simply, but the tactile feel of turning or clicking a knob to reduce or increase volume is a nice touch. Pun intended. If you’re running a larger more complex stream, the Create is probably more you’re style as it’s a physical addon you can set nearby your work station. Then again, both are equal in how they handle audio so it really depends on preference.


The BEACN Mic and BEAN Mix Create are versatile tools for streamers and content creators. If you’re looking to start streaming or creating videos, the mic and interface are great additions to any stream setup.

Reviews

Best Video Games to Build Your Characters (Part 2)

Video games are as great an escape as reading a book. They let you become another character and play out an adventure. Games allow you to discover new lands, save the world, or go on a side quest. Very much like a fantasy book, you join along in the adventure to see what happens in the end.

And like a book series, games can have several in the series. That’s why we split our list of the best video games to design your character into two posts. Sequels are popular. Everyone wants more of what they enjoyed. It worked for Avengers, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and it’s how we’re building Thread of Souls.

If you missed part one of building a character in a video game, check it out here.


6. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire quickly became one of our favorite games. Inspired by Baldur’s Gate, you build a party of characters in an attempt to stop a god from wreaking on the world. You can make a party of five custom characters, each with their own voice and skill line. It’s another great example of a D&D party in video games. You can outfit characters with armor, weapons, and choose a color unique to them to make them stand out.

7. W2K22

WWE is a big part of our lives and W2K22 is one of the best games when it comes to designing a character. From their looks, clothing, and attitude, the game offer plenty of options when it comes to design. You can choose any skin color, select from hundreds of outfits or clothes, and give your character a specific fighting style. It’s one of the most fun games we’ve found when it comes to building a character. Characters are restricted to how tall they can be. So if you play a shorter or taller race, you are limited to height.

8. Neverwinter – Free

Neverwinter’s character creator is the best choice for free games to choose from. It pulls directly from the lore and official D&D books, so those familiar with the mechanics should find it simple to build a character. If you have a drow paladin at the table, you can build them in Neverwinter and get them pretty close to how you imagine them.

9. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is robust. There are 25 classes and 12 races to choose from when you build a character. Classes have their own unique look — rangers wear a hood, paladins wear heavy armor — but you can change certain elements by giving them armor during the journey.

10. Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age

Elves, humans, dwarves, and Qunari make up the characters you’ll be able to choose from in Dragon Age. While it isn’t a lot when compared to other games, it fits the lore of the world. One of our favorite things about the character customization options for Dragon Age is the clothing. There are so many outfits to find and equip in the game and you can customize the color and style of them as well. You can tailor outfits to fit the personality and skill of your specific character.


Seeing your character come to life in a video game can give them more life in your writing. Watching them move around the map or interact with objects and characters can give you new ideas in roleplaying them at the table. Give it a thought the next time you sit down to play.

What is your favorite video game?