Let’s get this out of the way early: No, I am not a traditional video game reviewer. Yes, it’s obviously harder for me to be completely unbiased about a game that I consulted on for years as a member of the Dragon Age Community Council. However, BioWare has never put any obligations on me nor even made any requests to say anything positive about the game that I don’t believe. Everything I have ever said and will ever say about Dragon Age: The Veilguard is my honest opinion and has been said because I wish to say it.
So. How about we put the big thing up front: Did I love it? Yes. Is it perfect? No, but what game is?
Dragon Age: The Veilguard opens how many Dragon Age fans might expect: hunting the Dread Wolf. Varric and his team (including your player character, Rook) have finally caught up with Solas as he’s attempting to perform a ritual to bring down the Veil. It all goes terribly wrong and instead, two of the elven gods are released from their prison and suddenly, Rook has a much bigger enemy (literally) and a far worse problem on their hands along with an unexpected, trickster ally. To handle this? We’re gonna need a bigger team. Time to assemble the Veilguard. Continue reading
Just like many other YA fantasy book fans, I’ve been eagerly looking forward to the debut of the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone. A few years back, I’d devoured and adored the Six of Crow duology and then, more recently, tore through the original Shadow and Bone trilogy in a single day earlier this year. My excitement doubled once I heard they’d cast a biracial actress in the lead role because it always means a lot to me to see fellow half-Chinese actresses like Jessie Mei Li in lead roles especially when it’s for a big production like this one. The point is… I was ready and eager to consume this show when it dropped on Friday. And for the most part, by the time the credits of the final episode started playing, I really dug most of what the show did and especially adored the brilliant cast but at the same time… oh boy did their handling of Alina being mixed race make me feel a lot of things in my hapa heart. And not all of them were good. 
Happy Bonds of Brass Day!!! If you follow me on Twitter or if you read the previous post here, you likely know that I loved the heck out of Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie. Having read the author’s previous novel, Hullmetal Girls, I was immediately intrigued about this book just based upon the initial description from Del Rey and had been anticipating it ever since. I was lucky enough to get an advance review copy of the book back in September and have been screaming about it to anyone who will listen since then. (I’d apologize to my friends who had to hear me flail about it a dozen times but I’m not actually sorry.)
Bria LaVorgna 