One Happy Team…

*.AVI

Outlaw King

Some good actors (Florence Pugh, the guy from Dungeons&Dragons, Stannis Baratheon) and surprising attention to historic accuracy (William Wallace wasn’t a pict, and they weren’t wearing only browns in Medieval times). But I can’t help but feel that it should have been a miniseries, due to the density of events. Robert’s loses most of his army, his wife is taken hostage and two of his brothers killed in span of 20 minutes. And those two brothers are half the way across Scotland!
The most ridiculous scene, when Robert stabs his competitor in the church is historically accurate.

Honestly surprised they managed to pull the final battle. Very impressed.

PC Gaming

Far Cry 6

Not sure what’s worse: a “helicopter boss” or not having a boss at all.

Usually, the most devastating LMG in Far Cry is MG42. Not this time, this time we get a minigun, if handicrafted. And a sniper rifle that shoots explosive darts. I didn’t say there are no cool weapons in this game.

Second region is big on LGBT agenda. How do you know Paolo is trans? Don’t worry, “he” will tell you. As will “his” doctor, that is very proud of top surgery he performed. And there’s also two lesbians to save. You need to save them not because they are opposing the regime, but because they are lesbians. That’s what I call “subtle writing”.

Tags Far Cry

*.BAK

Ardnamurchan Madeira Cask

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date April 14, 2025
No Comments on Ardnamurchan Madeira Cask

This is my first Madeira cask whiskey. It has surpring level of peatiness to it, which I didn’t expect. At 52%, it is sweet, but not as sweet as some sherried whiskies, and it leaves a nice warmth in your throat.

Tags Ardnamurchan, whiskey

PC Gaming

Far Cry 6

There are a few design choices I find plainly strange. Right after the tutorial island you are given what is basically a personal helicopter. Nobody tells you that you have it, but it’s there on the top of the bunker if you know about it. But you can’t fly it anywhere, because of anti-air turrets. So you spend hours destroying those. It would have been easier just not to give you early access to helicopters. After all, it’s not like in Cuba helicopters are just sitting in every backyard. But I guess they just wanted to prolong the game, and towers weren’t an option anymore.

The second issue is the crossbow, or hand balista that I already mentioned, I think. Again, you are given this weapon at the very start. At just look at its stats:

This is basically a railgun. It reloads slowly, but it can take any enemy, even minibosses, with a single headshot. Yes, you get limited ammunition for it. But you have almost zero motivation to discover other weapons when you have this in your arsenal. Oh, and did I mention it’s almost silent as well?

Speaking of progress, I’ve barely completed one region out of 3, and I’m already level 8 out of 10. Not sure if there’s much to look forward to.

Tags Far Cry

*.BAK

Aeropress Go Plus

Aeropress Go Plus is almost everything I wanted from Aeropress Go. It is slightly bigger. The plastic is clear and feels more robust. Actually, the entire thing is more robust. The cup is metal and thermal, and has a storage compartment at the bottom for extra paper filters. And it all fits very nicely.
The only downside for me is that you can’t fit the lid with the pressurized filter cap on. Aeropress Go had a rubber lid, so you could still stretch it, but Go Plus has a plastic lid. Still, I prefer this version much more, and I didn’t plan to use the lid anyway.

Tags aeropress, coffee

*.BAK

Burning Sky Blessed State beer

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date April 12, 2025
No Comments on Burning Sky Blessed State beer

I purchased a can of this beer simply for the gorgeous art.

First thing that comes to mind it is how smooth that beer is. Guinness level of smoothness, but at 7% ABV. They use both coffee beans and cacao nibs, and both are blended very well.
And believe it or not, it does put you in that lightly-sleepy state for a very long time, I was still feeling it after 3-4 hours, which is uncommon for such a low ABV.

Tags beer, Burning Sky

PC Gaming

Far Cry 6

Like many other sandboxes, Far Cry 6 can’t decide what it wants to be. Either you can singlehandedly hijack a Soviet tank, jump from 50m only to open a parachute and a wingsuit, and if you venture into a zone too early, enemies there would withstand multiple headshots from a sniper rifle. Also, you have a backpack that shoots homing rockets that are able to blow both tanks and helicopters.
But then the story is this family feuds and serious sacrifices. At least they still have the ability to kill off characters.
Also, there is counter narrative, it wouldn’t be Far Cry without it. Castillo mentions that 80% of his soldiers come from farmer families, not a fact for cartoonish tyrant. And Alejandro tells her sister that she is a guerilla just because she thinks it’s all a game.

Tags Far Cry

*.BAK

Shun Kai Premier

My knife philosophy, that has developed over the years, is that I have a pair of chef’s knives, 6″ and 8″, and a pair of santoku knives, also 6″ and 8″, and I slowly upgrade them year by year. I started with Arcos and OXO, and now I’m creeping to Japanese brands.
This year came the time of 8″ to be upgraded. Since I was traveling to the US, I decided to fulfil my 2 years long dream and get a Shun Kai knife in the form of 8″ Premier Chef knive.
European knives usually come at 58 Rockwell hardness. This claims to be 61. But here’s a hard truth: no matter how hard your steel is, you still need to sharpen in. Horl for the win.
Here’s an example on even harder Miyabi knives, which are on my list as well:

Also, I’ll admit to what everyone else was saying. Those hammer dimples don’t have any effect on food adhesion to the blade. They just look nice.

Tags knives

*.AVI

Transformers One

Transformers are quite a ridiculous universe. I mean, there are female transformers, you have transformers going to a gym, and riding to work in trains.

But in this nonsensical universe, they created an excellent origin story, where Optimus is the adventurous one, while Megatron is the more level headed. Both of them can’t transform. This is actually a thing in the Transformers universe, you need a Cog to transform, and some original episodes were even dedicated to this cog being stolen.
Also, it’s Optimus who gives Megatron his emblematic sticker.
And, because those are all robots, there is a place for some ultra violence, like Megatron tearing the previous tyrant in half.

What this movie manages to capture is the aesthethics of the early ninethies. With no blur:

Maybe not all is lost yet.

Tags Transformers

MMORPG

Albion Online

I think it’s a bit of a shame that the game is heavily skewed towards gathering. You are supposed to loose all your equipment from time tobtime, and then buy it again, and that’s what powers game economy.

The bosses are fun at first, feel fair enough if you learn their patterns, but the reward can be 2K, while upgrading your weapon costs 350K, and 2K doesn’t even cover the repair costs for your gear. Probably because of how unprofitable it is, finding a party for dungeons is also almost impossible, unless it’s an end game raid.
Speaking of upgrading, I didn’t understand why it’s needed at first, until my growth started to plato around T6 gear (out of 8). So my character can’t use a T7 sword, but he can upgrade T6 sword he can use 4 times, basically creating T10 sword in the process. Upgrading is expensive, but it is needed as leveling up gets very time consuming.

Tags Albion Online

*.AVI

Batman (2022)

Watching Batman after Penguin is quite interesting, as I have more context on who Maronis and Falcones are.
I never liked Nolan’s trilogy, especially Dark Knight, so for me going back to investigative roots of Batman works great.
Seems like the art of dialog writing also returns to us:
” – I have a thing about strays” while Catwoman speaks with Batman is a good one.
The most distinguishable feature is the top-down shots.

Not groundbreaking or anything, but distinguishable. That, and that cats. The cats are gorgeous.

Tags Batman

*.APK/*.CAB

Tacticus

Unlocked Plagueburst Crawler from it’s Incursion event.

Unlocked Roswitha from requisitions.

Unlocked Sword Brother Godswyl from leveling up Orks and grinding his battle. Important as he’s needed for Octarius Mirror.

By this point I started to get tired of the game, as the progress is very slow and not very rewarding.
Unlocked Abraxas from grinding his campaign battle. This is important, as now I have Saim Hann Mirror campaign unlocked.

Unlocked Thaddeus Noble, also from grinding, and also important, as it unlocks Fall of Cadia Mirror. Now, I have just one more Mirror campaign to unlock, which is Octarius Mirror.

Unlocked Brother Burchard by grinding. Just one more Black Templar character to grind through to unlock the final Mirror Campaign.

Tags Tacticus, w40k

XBOX

Samurai Shodown Sen

Samurai Shodown Sen (aka Edge of Destiny) is one of those weird 3D instalments of Samurai Shodown series that happened after SNK’s implosion. Officialy, it was ever released only in the arcades (Taito Type X) and on Xbox 360, making it one of the few games that still warrant having Xbox 360.

But recently I discovered that a PC version exists. At first I thought this is some kind of a scam. Then I thought that it’s some kind of wrapper around Xenia. Neither seem to be true. Some comments say that this might be a leaked prototype, put together by fans. Which may explain why it uses dgVoodoo to run.

After I managed to play it once, though, the game stopped booting, giving an error in what I suspect to be Japanese. And no matter how many times I tried to delete it and unpack it again (there’s no installation process), they game just wouldn’t start.
Speaking of Xenia, though, I discovered that it emulates the game perfectly well. And that’s the opportunity to finally discuss what it is. Because in essence, it’s not a Samurai Shodown game. It’s Soul Calibur with characters from Samurai Shodown. Instead of weak/medium/strong slashes, there are vertical and horizontal slashes. There’s a grab (throw) with a single button. There are very few special moves, but many combos. And the inputs are mostly chains of attacks, not QCF/QCB common to SNK games.

The characters are modelled and animated well (looking at you, Arika), no complains there. Visually, it’s an Xbox 360 game. I’m not sure what specifically prompted that style on Xbox, but it’s very dark, gray/brown in tone.

Tags Samurai Shodown

*.AVI

Saturday Night Live (2024)

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date March 31, 2025
No Comments on Saturday Night Live (2024)

“The Bear” changed cinema. “Saturday Night Live” tries to recreate the same frantic athmosphere, minute by minute: the movie is 90 minutes in length, and starts 90 minutes before the show goes live on TV.
I feel like it requires too much prior knowledge. Am I supposed to know all those comedians that they mention? John Bellucci? Chevy Chase? Billy Preston? Because I don’t.
One bit I didn’t get is why they used Nicholas Braun (Succession) for two characters. One of them is some strange Italian, and another a muppeteer if that’s the name. It doesn’t seem like any other characters acknowledges it’s the same person. The one I actually knew was Dan Aykroyd, Ray from Ghostbusters. And I actually did see Chevy Chase in “Memoirs of an Invisible Man”.
After reading some more, I discovered that some of the cast died before they hit 40, either from overdose or cancer. And most of them left the show after 4-5 years.
I can’t deny it’s a good movie. The allegories with putting bricks is brilliant: just like putting a show together. Also, the actors they choose represent their real-life counterparts extremely well.
But I’m not sure it’s a movie anyone should go to theaters for.

*.BAK

Auchentoshan Three Wood

I’d like to say that I didn’t like this whiskey, and the only reason I tried it is that it comes in 5cl bottles. And that would be partially true. I didn’t like the taste, a bit smoky, a bit tarty, a bit sweet, it is almost as if you chew on biltong. Later I read that it is bourbon, PX Sherry and Oloroso sherry. But I wouldn’t associate it with sherry much, I would lean more into some wine casks, even.
But I must admit, it is complex. And it does numb the mouth, and gives a bit of warmth, and a suprising amount of lightheadiness for a 43%. And all that for 45GBP. Not something I would buy, but not because it’s not interesting, but because it isn’t my style.

Tags Auchentoshan, whiskey

Hardware

Keychron M3 Mini Metal

I finally got tired of Razer Deathadder V3 Pro, and decided to try something new. Since I absolutely adore Keychron keyboards, the choice was quite obvious.
As I mentioned previously, I don’t like the current trend that tried to make mice as light as possible. But since there’s no alternative, and I wanted a change, I got the metal mouse with holes in it. Not a fan of the holes, but they also don’t bother me as much as I envisioned. Also, I thouth that the mouse will be cold to touch, it isn’t much different from plastic, though.
What I do like, compared to Deathadder, is mostly that Keychron didn’t do all the stupid mistakes Razer made with V3. There’s Bluetooth support if I ever needed one, there’s a clear switch for on/off and DPI. I would have preferred larger side buttons, but they aren’t much smaller than V3.
What I do like is how the mouse clicks. It’s a much lower “thud”, compared with a high-pitched “click” from Razer, the sound is much like Keychron keyboards.
One strange decission is how big the receiver is. All receivers I’ve seen until now were small enough to disappear in a USB slot. This one is the size of my pinkie, and it needs to be connected with a USB-C cable.

MMORPG PC Gaming

Albion Online

As I still have a couple of days of Premium, I decided to keep at it. A couple of hours in, you finally get some weapon variety. Not just sword and shield, but two handed swords as well.
There are no experience levels, but instead every skill has a level. Swing a claymore, and you will raise both “sword” and “claymores”. Swing it enough times, and you’ll be able to use claymore of the next tier.
Levels also affect which skills you get. Every piece of equipment has multiple skills to pick from. The choice is mostly between single-target and AoE.
Group dungeons are fun. Or at least they are fine. But unlike Diablo Immortal, there’s no built-in mechanism where you queue to a dungeon. You just need to descend into a dungeon and hope other people will come with you.

Tags Albion Online

*.BAK

Rivington American Barleywine

Post author By TheAleosha
Post date March 24, 2025
No Comments on Rivington American Barleywine

Beautiful bottle, with a was seal. Tastes like triple IPA, but without the gas. Nice, as I like when a beer doesn’t taste like a beer anymore, but the aftertaste is bitter, and I probably wouldn’t buy it again.

Tags beer

PC Gaming

Albion Online

I can see why many praise that game. The chunky low-poly visuals are reminiscent of Torchlight 2. Combat is quite solid, with enemies telegraphing their attacks and cycling through skills. The other aspects don’t inspire me us much, though. All equipment seems to be just generic “Novice Sword”, “Journeyman Sword”, etc. And the whole gathering/refining/crafting loop seems tiresome.

PC Gaming

Far Cry 6

Right of the bat you get access to some pretty powerful weapons. One of the makeshift weapons is a crossbow shooting harpoons. And then there’s the in-game shop, and maybe because the game is pretty old they were giving away in-game currency at some point, but I had enough to get a bullpup sniper rifle as well.

In addition, you have a superpower in a form of a improvised backpack. The default is kind of a mortar attack, but there’s also poison and EMP AoE variants.
With all this crazy weaponry and constant references to superhero comics, it would be interesting if they try to turn this into a “Vanishing of Ethan Carter” kind of story, where everything is just imagination of the dictator’s son. Speaking of which, no matter which gender you choose at the start of the game, everyone still calls you Dani (Daniel/Daniella), which is a smart trick, instead of everyone “swallowing” the protagonist name like in some other games. And condiering how androgynous this “son” looks, it might be he’s not son at all… But we’ll see.

Tags Far Cry