STOKING THE FIRES VOL. 2! - CHECK IN 6-24-2025
Howdy Folks! Early in the life of this blog we touched on some things we had been watching, doing, tracking and would recommend, or at the least looking forward to checking out. Well, its been a bit, so I figured I would drop another one! Cheers, and please comment below or on our discord with any other recs, we appreciate the ones sent so far!
Movies/Shows:
Predator : Killer of Killers
If you saw MazeCast Ep. 3, you already know Dad and I loved this movie but it deserved a spot here. It was VERY well done.
The Presence
Another one we brought up in Ep. 3, a very fun spin ghost movie genre, reminiscent of “In Violent Nature” and how it was the same kind of POV swap to the slasher genre. Good time, but not what the trailer portrays. i would go into this with an open mind, its not like a lot of other Horror, over the top suspense or violence, but gets marks for being different.
Sinners
I have this one bought and ready to watch, has come HIGHLY recommended from a lot of folks I know. Coogler seems to be making a name for himself, and etching that very same name in the same conversations as newer age directors like Robert Eggers and Mike Flannagan.
Until Dawn
This one is a wild card, I played the game (I have a soft spot for all of the Supermassive Game’s Dark Pictures point/click horror games…also while typing this, realized the irony that I also have a soft spot for The Division Games, made by Massive Entertainment, maybe I just like the word Massive?) and I’ve heard the movie adaption of UD rips, so cautiously optimistic for this one…
JW : Ballerina
This movie went from something I wasn't too excited about to a nice surprise. Well done and doesn't just rely on the franchise name to carry its own weight.
28 Years Later
This franchise speaks for itself, the first one shaped a whole sub genre of zombie. I CANNOT WAIT to see this movie, hopefully this week!
Podcasts/Books:
Creep Cast
Been listening to these guys for a while. Wendigoon and MeatCanyon/Papa Meat are already large names, and they come together on this podcast and talk about all things “creepypasta”/internet horror and urban legends and it's always a good time. Key episodes to check out are:
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Another call out from the recent Maze Cast Ep. 3, this book is a must have for anyone who grew up playing table top games and are into nerd/fantasy stuff. This book was recommended on our discord and I couldn’t recommend another series more to our folks who check out our site. This series is awesome!
Video Games:
Hunt Showdown (*be on the lookout for a whole App Corner article soon!)
This game OOZES style. Set in the Louisiana Bayou during some form of outbreak that’s turned its denizens into undead looking zombies, the animals into twisted versions of themselves and the objective is to banish a large boss creature all while competing against other hunters and parties to get the bounty token with high stakes PVP where any shot from any firearm could drop you. This game is in the same zone as The Division for me in terms of how obsessed I was/still am occasionally with the entire setting, gameplay and overall aesthetic of the world. Loved this title since I heard about it early on a single player game called “The Gilded Age” or something.
Rematch
So, this one is very much a curveball. I don’t normally have any interest in soccer in general, or sports games at all, BUT a good buddy of mine is a soccer fanatic and has loved the game, got me in on his beta key and we played it together. All in all, this game is just like Rocket League, but with normal human players, not cars, along with more technical control of the ball makes this game interesting in its own right and raises the skill ceiling quite a bit. It takes me back to the old NFL and NBA street days, I’m having WAY more fun than I thought I would.
Holdfast : Nations at War
As a history buff, this game is a no brainer. 200 player matches in the setting of the Napoleonic Wars. The added variability of having muskets that aren’t laser beam accurate like modern shooters gives this game a fun charm to it and adds some tense moments. Tons of RP with Musicians, artillery (that needs to be managed, loaded, aimed and fired by crews of players), cavalry and line formations for added bonuses give this game a TON of depth to an otherwise unassuming simple RNG shooter. There’s usually one server maxed capacity you have to wait to get into which can make squad play kind of hard to coordinate, but still very fun nonetheless.
Stuff coming soon I'm hyped for:
Borderlands 4
These games have been a staple to looter shooters most of my life, and with BL3 having a content issue (lack there of…), and tons of end game balancing issues, and Tiny Tinas Wonderlands having the EXACT same issues, I’m cautiously optimistic about this new entry and TONS of folks that have played it early are hinting this game appears to be a return to form.
Witcher 4 - BIG asterisk on this.
Witcher 1 - 2 were great for their time, but The Witcher 3 : The Wild Hunt was an absolute masterpiece. The DLCs for that game set the gold standard for what can be expected from DLC/Expansions that’s still the standard and has very seldom if EVER been met. This games ending was perfect and the remaster holds up. I’m not sure how i feel about them diving back into the same story with you picking up as Ciri in the later future and imo if they HAD to revisit this IP, i wish they would’ve picked another set of protagonists. Time will tell, but they pulled CP2077 around, so here’s hoping, even if this game comes out a mess that they’ll make it right.
Vampire the Masquerade : Bloodlines 2
So…this game. The original Vampire the Masquerade was an amazing RPG for its time, and this IP has been around for a LONG time. In story focused narrative “choose your own adventure” style games, in the BR title “Bloodhunt” which, BRs outside of Hunt : Showdown aren’t my cup of tea…BUT this game gets marks for being at least different in having different vampire clans acting as classes and the movement being superhero-esque. Also, this IP is very rich and deep in other forms of media like literature and table top games as its a part of the World of Darkness setting by White Wolf Publishing, including not only Vampire : The Masquerade, but also Hunter : The Reckoning (anyone else remember the awesome top down ARPG from the early 2000s of this?), and Werewolf : The Apocalypse. This world/setting is so fun to dive into and check out, and makes me excited about this game where otherwise scuffed development cycle that’s been in a form of limbo for years and years now.
Table Top:
*Board Games, TTRPGs, TCGs, Etc.
Warhammer and The new Old World RPG by Cubicle 7
I’m a HUGE fan of the Warhammer Fantasy/Old world setting, and after Games Workshop discontinued years back and shifted over to “The Age of Sigmar”, I, along with many others was pretty pissed, and honestly a little disenchanted with Games Workshop as a whole. the AoS setting just seemed like a less interesting version of 40k with its half fantasy half sci-fi vibe, it just seemed like it had an identity crisis and didn’t have a defined path in mind. Luckily, The Old World/Fantasy setting is now officially back at Games Workshop, which is good, but they’re taking their time spinning up all the books/material and minis again. To help, there is a new RPG coming from Cubicle 7 Games (check out this video about it too!) to flesh out the setting and give you more bite on while waiting for your favorite army/faction to come back to the official lineup on Games Workshop.
MTG
I’ve always been kind of on the fringe of interest with Magic : The Gathering. I more so like the Secret Lair/Crossover event booters and decks (the LOTR one was absolutely amazing) over the standard MTG sets. That being said I do like MTG and appreciate the history. I like the Innistrad sets because I’m a Universal Monsters nerd as I’ve mentioned countless times, and this set has a lot in common with Ravenloft too, which is related under the WoTC banner.
Lorcana
Another wild card here, this is a TCG based on a lot of the Disney licensed IPs. Now that I have a 2 year old I am VERY familiar with just about all of these lol. This is a fun TCG with a lot of player agency built into the systems. The cards, effects, art style and obviously the source material give this game a more whimsical and casual feel, but there’s some fun gameplay to be had here and a surprising amount of depth. Not to mention, the Illuminator’s Quest boxes are included in some of the deck expansions that let you play in a coop method with kiddos/friends, and collecting the boosters looking for characters our young one may be excited to see makes it half the fun, and easily worth the mention here!
