This week we’re diving into Tunic, which launched Day One on Xbox Game Pass. It’s part Zelda, part Dark Souls and all beautiful fun. And the second season of “Raised by Wolves” on HBO Max is a complicated show that might just give you nightmares.
‘Raised by Wolves’ Season 2 will haunt your dreams
Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves” on HBO Max has been one of the most original and haunting sci-fi tales in recent memory. It manages to combine several daunting subjects — religious warfare, the Book of Genesis, artificial intelligence and contact with extraterrestrial life — into a coherent narrative about restarting human civilization on a hostile planet, under the stewardship of two humanoid androids that are much more sophisticated than they seem.
The second season digs deeper into the nature of the religious cult’s devotion, as well as the development of a functioning society trying to balance the interests of atheists and believers alike. Just prepare for the levitating snake monsters to haunt your dreams.
Beautiful Tunic is a must-play
The brainchild of solo developer Andrew Shouldice, Tunic embodies what makes the Legend of Zelda games so great. Shouldice ultimately pulled in a small team to help him, alongside publisher Finji and distributor Microsoft, to get the game over the finish line, and it shows. Tunic is gorgeous, with captivating music, tough combat and scores of secrets tucked away in its isometric landscapes.
Contemporary indie game players might feel compelled to compare it to Acid Nerve’s Death’s Door; both feature bipedal animal protagonists that wield swords dodge-rolling, Dark Souls-style, through strikingly similar environments. But Tunic is no copycat, and Shouldice went to great lengths to wear his influences on his sleeve when necessary. Tunic is more forgiving than Death’s Door, and as captivating as any top-down Zelda entry. It’s a must-play, especially considering it was surprise-launched on Game Pass this week.
Indulge your love/hate relationship with tech founders
The slow transformation of Hollywood members into tech industry skeptics has arrived, as show after show detailing the hubris and fraud of Silicon Valley officially replaces those that lovingly satirized tech and, before that, glorified it.
Though it took the entertainment industry a few years, and an eye-popping number of book deals, to catch up to the media’s less reverent tone, we’re now seeing a number of the biggest and messiest narratives of the last 10 years make their way to TV. Rani Molla over at Recode takes aim at whether Hollywood is truly up to the task of portraying the complexity behind Travis Kalanick and Elizabeth Holmes.
Get your nostalgia fix with ‘Dragon Ball’
For many anime fans, “Dragon Ball” and its sequel were the shows that started it all. And now, thanks to the merger of anime streaming services under Sony, the entire “Dragon Ball” series is available to watch on Crunchyroll. That includes the original 153-episode run of “Dragon Ball,” the nine-season run of “Dragon Ball Z” and all of the inexplicably weird “Dragon Ball GT,” if you’re adventurous enough to brave that non-canon spinoff. Crunchyroll offers both subs and dubs.
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