Rodrigo Lopes

A Brazilian critic and connoisseur of everything Jellicle.

Old Bugs

Old Bugs_Lovecraft Story Analysis

The Lovecraft Project: Howard Phillips Lovecraft is the father of cosmic horror – the genre constructed around the notion that we humans are just a tiny, insignificant part of the universe, which holds much bigger, ancient, more powerful beings. We are nothing compared to what lies out there, beyond our reach and understanding. The plan is to write a few …

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Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest

Fire Emblem Fates Conquest review

Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest is a much better game than its counterpart, Birthright. With a more engaging story and some unique, complex stages, the game manages to maintain the usual quality of Nintendo’s tactical RPG franchise. Fates’ protagonist is called Corrin. The character, despite having their own personality, functions as an avatar for the player, who can modify their name, …

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Tomb Raider (2013)

Tomb Raider Game Review

It’s great when things make sense. And it’s even greater when they also come together nicely, harmoniously. Charles, the snob, likes to call this a matter of “coherence” and “cohesion”, but you can call it whatever you want if you still pay your taxes and sometimes stop to take the time to see if all elements in a piece of …

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Memories of Ice

Memories of Ice Book Review

Memories of Ice, the third volume of The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, further expands the scope of the main story. Although the narrative is less careful about exposition than in previous volumes, it makes up for this with the complexity of its storylines and character arcs. The story returns to the main characters of Gardens of the Moon at …

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Assassin’s Creed Rogue

Assassin's Creed Rogue review

Assassin’s Creed Rogue is Black Flag with a new coat of paint. Offering the same systems and overall structure, it shares similar problems to its predecessor: it’s shallow, bloated, and repetitive. Its story follows suit, showing some promise at the beginning, but quickly falling into similar pitfalls, packed with one-dimensional characters that have little to say about anything. The story …

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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess offers a much more complex and cinematic version of the formula adopted by the series after A Link to the Past. With a story marked by melancholy, and with more elaborate dungeons than its predecessor, the game impresses with its epic scope, although, for that, it gives up the element of mystery that surrounded …

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The Outsider

The Outsider Book Review

This review contains spoilers. A crime thriller written by Stephen King, The Outsider has a great start, pushing its characters to their limits while making them face questions regarding the limits of reason and, paradoxically, the terrible consequences of acting based on emotions alone. Its second half, however, brings the pacing to a halt, with the introduction of an uninteresting …

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God of War III

God of War III - Image

God of War III is all about spectacle. During the visually impressive intro, Kratos is tearing his enemies apart on the back of a titan who, in turn, is climbing Mount Olympus and battling a gigantic aquatic creature controlled by Poseidon. The camera is constantly moving in and out of the action to display how the scope is now even …

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Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Review

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag builds on the foundations of its predecessor to set its story in the Caribbean and put the focus on pirates and naval warfare. Black Flag’s many mistakes are old ones in the franchise, with the game being dragged down by clunky stealth, weak combat, a repetitive mission structure, and an underdeveloped story. The main character …

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Shift

Shift Book Review

Shift is a pointless prequel to the great dystopic world of Wool, choosing to put its focus on all the wrong places: instead of building on the fascinating discussions of its predecessor and crafting an engaging story, it decides to spend a lot of time explaining pointless things about its worldbuilding and grinding the pace to a halt with fan …

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