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I’m a bit of a sucker for metroidvanias, so when I heard that there was a critically acclaimed Prince of Persia game using the side-scrolling metroidvania formula, I thought to myself, “hey, I’m a critic, I can acclaim!” I’m very happy to report that while Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown may not be perfect, it definitely lives up to the hype. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a side scrolling action adventure game in the metroidvania style. That is, you explore the map looking for the next power-up or ability that will allow you to overcome novel obstacles, survive or destroy certain hazards, etc. And while The Lost Crown does that a fair amount and in predictable ways, the game also managed to subvert my expectations and surprise me a few times. In The Lost Crown you play as Sargon, one of The Immortals led by Vahram, as you enter a strange city lost to time to rescue the prince of (you guessed it) Persia. The Immortals themselves have a recurring role throughout the story. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, because The Lost Crown does a magnificent job of crafting a tale that is full of twists and surprises–something I can’t really say I’ve seen at this level. But that’s not the main draw. Exploring the map and obtaining new abilities to get past novel obstacles is your main activity. Interestingly, you can choose whether or not you want The Lost Crown to be a pure metroidvania experience, or one that shows you where to go via waypoints. This is along with numerous other difficult settings that can make it easier for those that want to play a game for fun, and not necessarily tackle a white-knuckle challenge. If you do want a challenge, however, The Lost Crown delivers that in multiple ways. Combat can be relatively challenging, and enemies are of a mixed variety of ranged and close-up damage dealers with different behaviors. Each major zone also has a boss or two to create their own unique challenges. As Sargon you fight using your dual swords, bow, and chakram. These can be upgraded, and you can also upgrade how many potions you can carry–they replenish at every wak wak tree, in soulsborne style. You can also equip different abilities called Athra Surges. These range from a projectile you shoot to giving you enhanced combat ability for a while. Amulets are also able to be upgraded, however, I wish the system for this was a little easier. You can’t upgrade them directly from your inventory, so you'll have to select which to upgrade while at the blacksmith. This led to me looking back and forth to double check names, as some later upgrades require you to spend hard to acquire currency. Amulets are another way to change the way you play as Sargon, and they can really change things significantly. Amulets can enable extra attacks in a combo, give you temporary health, increase ability damage, and so much more. I found with the right amulet and athra combo most combat scenarios were easily defeated–even bosses. Beyond combat, there are some great traversal challenges or what I like to call “jumping puzzles.” There was a time when platforming video games seemed quaint and out of style, but since Super Meat Boy I’ve craved hard and deadly platforming. The Lost Crown delivers on this in a great way. There are also further jumping challenges that are incorporated into The Lost Crown organically as a way to test yourself beyond what the main game requires. My time with The Lost Crown wasn’t perfect, however. I did encounter a fair amount of bugs along the way, some of which actually soft locked my game, forcing me to restart. This didn’t just happen once, or in the same spot–but multiple times. I even got Sargon stuck in the world geometry a few times in a way I couldn't extract him. If I run into a bug that makes me lose progress, it’s frustrating. Having it happen multiple times in a playthrough can be maddening. If The Lost Crown wasn’t as good as it is, I would have given up after the second soft lock. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is certainly the darling the critics gushed about earlier this year before Palworld and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League took over headlines. It’s too bad that this flash-in-the-pan might be forgotten by year’s end. Though I suspect it’ll pop up on some game of the year lists, even despite its bugs–which I hope are fixed by then. If you manage to take a break from Palworld and are looking for some great platforming metroidvania action, The Lost Crown is a great choice.

It's always a nice treat when a member of a fantastic band releases a solo project. You honestly never know what your going to get. Maybe its a continuation of what the band has made, maybe it's a complete departure, or somewhere in the spectrum between the two. No matter what its refreshing to see musicians stretch their legs and try something new. This time around it's Cadien Lake James of Twin Peaks who just announced his upcoming solo album Dizzy under the lake j pseudonym. The album under a month away (March 1) and it's looking like an exciting release. Dizzy is described as having "lyrics inspired by Wong Kar Wai films", which that alone is enough to garner attention. But add to that an impressive list of contributors, many of which are local favorites, including Julien Ehrlich, Max Kakacek, Will Miller & Malcolm Brown (all from Whitney), Macie Stewart (FINOM), Yuma Abe, Andrew Humphrey, and Colin Croom (Twin Peaks). Alongside the announcement is a taste of whats to come with it's lead single "My Own Mess". The song is an ode to taking ownership of your past errors as James takes inventory of whats left. No matter how much things seem to be going awry in the track ("But plans unwind", "I'm piling up trash just like all the rest", "I spent my dime/Now I have none") James' calming voice drenched in the warm instrumentation is there reassure the listener with every passing verse. "I'm happy to lose placing my own bets" he sings amidst the vibraphone tones and Wurlitzer synths before nestling back in: "Right here in the middle of my own mess." If the rest of the album sounds this good, I can't imagine a better place to be. This post was originally published on Third Coast Review.

Our writer Julian Ramirez is a big proponent of physical media, always lauding formats new and old (mostly old nowadays). Whether is vinyl, cassettes or CDs; 4k UHD, Blu-ray, or VHS, he believes that physical media is an important part of preserving art and imbues another dimension of appreciating the work.  This series will focus on some of his favorite pieces of physical media in his collection. I'm definitely of the age that has wonderful memories of walking into video stores as a tiny child and perusing the aisles and aisles of movies for something new to watch. Or more likely something I'd seen hundreds of times and just couldn't afford the ridiculous old school VHS prices. While there was always a slew of mainstream movies of the shelves, they were matched in numbers by the strange short run movies or direct to video fair that often was just as fun if not more so as the big budget ones. I was far to young to differentiate between the different studios releasing those fascinating genre films, but as I've grown certain names have risen to the top. Empire International Pictures is one of those studios and the one at the center of Arrow Video's Enter the Video Store collection. The boxset is a wonderful love letter to the Empire film cannon (tangentially related pun intended), specifically looking at the more over the top, outlandish, and downright entertaining fare. Some of the more higher profile Empire films like Re-Animator and Trancers are absent from the boxset, but it's certainly not for lack of want. Rather this boxset is curated towards the even more obscure films in the catalog, the ones that would catch your eyes in the video store aisles, and giving them their much need due. Things like Robot Jox, which certainly has a strong following, but would have been all the bigger had it not been such a difficult to find movie for decades. I've only had the opportunity to watch two of the five films but what's there is of the highest quality (well, you know what I mean). Robot Jox feels simultaneously like an homage to the the stop motion monster movies of the past and the mecha anime that was still rising and a precursor to the modern day kaiju films like Pacific Rim. It's a wholehearted attempt to capture a really fully realized post apocalyptic future that isn't just your standard run of the mill dusty landscapes. Plus with Stuart Gordan in the directing chair, their is a bit of panache in every scene that just works. Cellar Dweller take the premise of a creators work coming to life and adds a hefty does of jovial genuine schlock to the affair. Everything abou the film screams with genre film-making royalty with a pretty fun leading lady in Debrah Farentino (Mullowney at the time), an opening scene cameo from Empire mainstay Jeffery Combs, a script from Chucky creator Don Mancini (credited as Kit Du Bois), and directed by John Carl Buechler who's make-up work is present in every film in the boxset. The Limited Edition edition of the boxset is out of print, but considering the success and hype of the set, it would have been silly for Arrow not to release a standard edition (like they noramlly do). The standard edition is the bare bones version of the collection. instead of a boxed version of the cover out it's slimmed down to a slip case. All the physical extras like the movie specific posters (each featuring both the original and the newly commissioned artwork), post cards featureing screen shots form the film, Arrow Video Store membership card facsimile (with the faux wear on the barcode), and the booklet featuring articles on all the films are omitted. While that may be the most sought after stuff for some collectors, the true bread and butter are the well restored movies and video extras that Arrow lets the Blu-rays overflow with. The standard edition retains those features and makes it a necessary get for fans of true 80s fun. Be on the look out for full reviews of each film in the coming weeks. I highly recommend you get yourself a copy of this incredibly fun release. There are a few places out there that still have the LE edition like Arrow Video, Zavvi, or DiablikDVD. You could also just get the Standard edition which has the most important part of the whole set: the movies! And while not the ideal choice (but the free choice), most for the films are available to stream Tubi (with the exception of Cellar Dweller which is unfortunately not on any US streaming service for some reason). Also I'm aware of all the colons in the title.

Our writer Julian Ramirez is a big proponent of physical media, always lauding formats new and old (mostly old nowadays). Whether is vinyl, cassettes or CDs; 4k UHD, Blu-ray, or VHSs, he believes that physical media is an important part of preserving art and imbues another dimension of appreciating the work.  This series will focus on some of his favorite pieces of physical media in his collection. Just a little bit over ten years ago, I started writing for Gapers Block. It was a small outlet out of Chicago focusing on arts, culture sports, you name it they covered it. I mainly wrote for their music section called Transmission. It was a blast and in those first six months really got me even more excited for music than I already was. One of my first assignments was King Krule’s first Chicago show at Lincoln Hall. If that’s all it was or were to be, it’s a pretty big show considering King Krule's standing as one of the most interesting UK artists to debut since then. But in the following years this show has become something special to me. It was a show that wouldn’t have even been on my radar had my cousin Maya not recommended it to me months before on the way to other concert, really selling me on lead singer Archy Marshall’s voice and guitar work. 6 Feet Beneath The Moon was maybe a month old at the time and from the first listen of the opening track during that car ride, I was hooked. Those droning strums of the album opener “Easy Easy “careen into Marshall’s unbelievably deep voice, much deeper than any 19 year old should have. It’s a stellar intro to Marshall and had I been more of aware of King Krule songs like “The Noose of Jah City” or “Out Getting Ribs” (a song that has become a personal and obvious fan favorite) would have set an insane bar for Marshall to meet. But the rest of the album does so marvelously. The gentle and chill out jam that underlines “Neptune Estate” is almost the antithesis of “Lizard State”, a song that relishes in excess and boisterousness. The entire album vacillates between moments of calm (“Baby Blue”) or melancholy (“Cementality”) and jaunty tracks (“The Krockadile”). When it finally came time to see the man and his band, I made sure to arrive early enough that the main floor wasn’t packed and the upstairs balcony seats were still plentiful. I took  a little lap around the venue before I planted in my spot up, stopping at the merch stand for a sec to just to see what they had on hand. It was the usual spread of shirts from both King Krule and the opening band TOPS (who are also excellent), a screen-printed poster for the show by Leslie Herman, and physical copies of their respective albums. That’s when my eyes widened. In the center of the table was a copy of 6 Feet Beneath The Moon , King Krule’s debut album, but it looked different. Instead of the typical black and white cover art created by Mister Gone, the cover was drawn over with colorful designs. It was as abstract as the original cover, signed mr. gone and priced at $10 more than the regular release.  I asked the person behind the table what the deal was with this unique edition and she didn’t really know anything about them. It feels dumb to say but I didn’t immediately purchase it. I thought about it for a long while but ended up back in my balcony seat with nothing. But every passing second my thoughts returned to that special looking edition of the album and before not too long I rushed back down to the table and immediately asked for a copy. Or what I thought would be a copy. The record, which was sleeved to protect its unique designs, was also taped down to the table. I figured the King Krule crew had made a bunch of these records and they would just grab one from the back and hand over a non-display copy. But no, it was the one from the table getting cut from its sticky confines and handed over to me (along with one of those gorgeous posters). Even without the the special drawn on art, the psychical album is a treasure. Mister Gone's art is displayed throughout the gatefold, highlighted by photographs of the band shot by Reuben Bastienne-Lewis. It a messy hand made style that works in tandem with the emotions and vocals that Archy Marshall pours over the albums instrumentals. In the moments between sets I stopped back down to the merch table to pick up the opening band TOPS’ own debut album and they informed be that the King Krule crew had a very limited number of copies of those hand drawn albums, pretty much only having one per stop. Months later I would come to find out that Mister Gone (mr. gone) was Jack Marshall, Archy Marshall’s brother, and likely the one who drew on my copy. Years later I would find other fans that also had unique copies of 6 Feet Beneath The Moon from this tour. And a bunch of fans who wanted to buy my copy occasionally messaging me in hopes of purchasing it. Photos of different variations of King Krule's 6 Feet Beneath The Moon from Discogs Just under nine years later, my cousin Maya, who opened my eyes to the sounds of King Krule passed away suddenly. A little over a decade later I play my vinyl copy of the album while staring at it's uniwue cover. and am flooded with memories of the year it came out. Memories of jamming out to that album in car on the way to the show that now feels like a footnote. Memories of King Krule commanding the stage with a deftness far beyond his years. Memories of my cousin feeling proud about recommending such a damn fine band. Physical media is not just owning something I could easily stream on the tons of available services. It's about the beauty of the physical item, the memories it can conjure, and the new ones that can be imbued on it. You can purchase a copy of King Krule's 6 Feet beneath the Moon at your local record store or favorite online retailer. You can also stream the album if you must, but I highly recommend you get a physical copy.

It's been a couple of years since Liam Kazar's excellent debut Due North graced our ears. The album is a distillation of over a decade of Kazar's musical talents, which he has lent to tours and collaborations with the likes Jeff Tweedy, Kevin Morby, Sam Evian and more. Due North blends a variety of genres into this enthusiastically fun album that bears constant rotation. "Shoes Too Tight", which rollicks around lyrics that are equally dizzying as the jaunty instrumentation, is completely different from "On a Spanish Dune" which crafts this magical serenity that swirls together with wondrously melodies. This gives Kazar's sound an air of timelessness, making his songs feel like they are from an era that just feels... familiar. Thankfully we don't have to wait any longer for a new tracks from Kazar as he just released "Next Time Around". "Next Time Around" continues on that path of timeless quality, embracing a warmth and outright tender sonic bed (unlike the one mentioned in the song). Kazar's voice is the clear star of the new track, adding an even more welcoming touch with his soft croon details a relationship that has come to an end. "Our love went dark and it’s all my fault" opens the song and he never pulls any punches as melancholic after melancholic line passes by. Kazar's verses are as straightforward as can be, but still hold a poetic complexity that keeps you coming back, even if that isn't the case for the romance at the center. "I feel your ghost inside these walls" he laments and Kazar makes you feel every bit of it with his near demoralized, yet affable croon. But even as "Next Time Around" constantly drenches the listener with the sorrow of this past love long lost, there is a shred of hope (not matter how hopeless it may seem) in Kazar's voice as he cautiously notes "I’ll just have to catch you the next time around." Catch Liam Kazar the next time around at the Hideout where he will be performing on April 7th. You can check out his fantastic album Due North on your favorite streaming platform or music store here. Feature photo by Alexa Viscius This post was originally published on Third Coast Review.

It doesn’t look like Microsoft is going to get out of the hardware business anytime soon. However, there are some rumblings across the internet–mostly led by Xbox boss Phil Spencer–about the future of Microsoft’s console, especially when it comes to console exclusives. Phil Spencer on X (formlery Twitter) tweeted: "While Bethesda will launch its Indiana Jones game first as an Xbox console exclusive, it’s currently set to have a rather short period of exclusivity we’re told." This sent Xbox fans looking for answers on various social media outlets. With Phil Spencer saying later on X (formerly Twitter): “We’re listening and we hear you. We’ve been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned.” This firestorm of speculation of the fate of Xbox wasn’t sparked by Spencer’s cryptic message, but it didn’t help matters. In fact, some of the Xbox fandom’s most loyal supporters are seemingly having a console wars crisis (yeah, I guess that was still a thing for some people). A lot of Xbox exclusive titles aren’t even exclusive at all, with most already available on PC via Microsoft’s storefront or third party apps like Steam. However, fans seeing formerly ‘exclusive’ titles crossing the line into PlayStation territory has them questioning their loyalty to Xbox at all. The ones that seem to benefit the most from this are the PC players. With formerly exclusive games from Sony being ported onto the PC (with mostly good results) it makes sense for Microsoft to cast its net into new waters as well. However, the future theoretical PlayStation library will definitely benefit those with PlayStation consoles more than Xbox players. It really makes you wonder, if you can play all of the games you want on PlayStation or PC, what’s the point of even owning an Xbox? And with the recent rumors of Xbox shifting to all-digital, maybe it’s the early warning signs of Microsoft bowing out of the hardware business–at least when it comes to consoles.

While the Homeworld 3 demo is available now on the Steam Next Fest, it looks like the full game’s release is going to be delayed until May 13th, 2024. The space-based real-time strategy game is a proper sequel to 2003’s Homeworld 2 and is hotly anticipated by fans of the cult series. The full statement from Gearbox Studios follows: Hello, Commanders – We hope you all have been enjoying your first-time going hands-on with Homeworld 3 during our public demo of War Games. Watching you share your experiences, exchange and debate strategies, and give us constant feedback has been incredible. This was our first time seeing the game played at scale, which is always an equally thrilling and nerve-wracking moment. We also recently gathered a dedicated group of players from outside our organizations to play through the full game. This resulted in additional insights and perspective that will be incorporated to make Homeworld 3 the best experience possible. After careful analysis of feedback, we made the decision to delay the global launch of Homeworld 3 until May 13, with advanced access set for May 10, to ensure that we’re making the final tweaks needed to deliver at the level of quality that we strive for and you deserve. To say that you as a community of players have been waiting patiently for this next installment would be an understatement, and we are deeply appreciative of that. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress. As always, you’re welcome to send your feedback via social channels, the Homeworld Universe Discord, and through our support page. Thank you all for playing, and we’ll talk again soon – Gearbox and BBI

With Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releasing, yet another live service game has hit the market. While they are supposedly the bane of proper video game players everywhere, their popularity tells a different story: and studios have caught on. According to a report by Griffin Gaming Partners, 95% of studios are working on a live service game. Ouch. What is live service exactly? The easiest way to explain it is as a game that exploits players through a continuing revenue model. Instead of just shipping a full game with all the bells and whistles, you’re given a backbone experience that is added onto and even changed as time goes on. All this with the aim of selling the players on micro (or even macro) transactions. Games as a service isn’t inherently bad–in fact, I’ve always been a proponent of game developers getting paid well, and that means people have to spend money for the games. However, I’m also a proponent of owning the games you play–and games as a service effectively does away with that. If a game that’s following a live service model dies, the game is usually lost to the ether, only living on in memories, Twitch clips and YouTube let’s plays. While that’s better than nothing, it’s sad that we’re losing this content as time rolls on. These data were collected by Griffin Gaming Partners who surveyed 537 gaming studios around the world. The definition for live service in the study was a little looser than I laid out, however, with their criteria being games that have a regular update schedule for their game. To quote the survey: "Multi-year game development forms production processes and pipelines that are intended to deliver a few key milestones in what is essentially a waterfall process. Production in live services, however, is a constant state of planning & adjusting game parameters to enhance player experience while designing and deploying new features to add new player value.” The report also stated that companies employing live service are looking for faster updates: "Across the industry, live service teams reported their ideal production schedules as weekly to biweekly for live ops cadences and biweekly to monthly for game content updates. In the context of game development, which typically spans multiple years, live service production schedules are moving at breakneck speed."

I hate to say this about my fellow critics, but, what the hell show are they watching? Sure, True Detective: Night Country has some very evocative elements and great atmosphere, but if you look at the bigger picture nothing makes any sense. And with only two more episodes to go, I’m afraid it won’t ever make any sense. Maybe the CGI polar bear that Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) keeps seeing reminds me too much of Lost, and I can’t help but be afraid of loose ends. But as it is right now, all I see are dangling threads with no resolution in sight. Despite its attempts at shoehorning the brilliant first season into its muddied narrative,True Detective: Night Country, has very little to do with the grounded masterwork that every other season of the anthology show has failed to live up to. But Night Country is stepping into ludicrous territory. I know that the supernatural elements aren’t loved by many, but I could actually see past them if Night Country backed it up with a story that made sense. Sure, I’m compelled to see where it goes. But at this rate, I predict it ending in a catastrophic train wreck with a lot of dead main characters–and that’s why the show goes through monumental efforts to make sure that we hate every one of them. From Prior’s (Finn Bennett) nagging wife (seriously, it’s not like there are crazy murders like this every day) to Navarro’s complete lack of care for her partner's consent and constant putdowns. Even if we’re not supposed to like anyone, it doesn’t make the story any more real. Despite the fact that there’s an unprecedented murder at a research facility, the story spends very little time on its extremely interesting premise, and more time threading a convoluted plot. It vacillates between being a gritty, grounded drama to a Twin Peaks style infusion of the supernatural with none of the charm that made that show so endearing. I’ll keep watching despite what I know will be an inevitably disappointing conclusion. However, I’d love to be proven wrong. I just can’t see how the story can come together in a satisfying, cohesive way with the little time they have left. I would have loved to see a show that actually focused on the very bizarre murder at the Tsalal Research Station. But Night Country seems just as happy to spin mysterious yarns that may fail to yield anything of substance at the end.

On Saturday February 3rd, SQUARE ENIX in partnership with AWR Music presented a multimedia orchestral concert: NieR: Orchestra Concert 12024 [End of Data] at the Rosemont Theatre. AWR Music is also responsible for the Distant Worlds concert series, so there’s a history of working with SQUARE ENIX as well as within the Rosemont Theatre. This is also the only date on the tour in the U.S. so Chicago was lucky enough to be the hub of quite the eclectic tour. The touring orchestra was directed by conductor Eric Roth, with original NieR series singers Emi Evans and J’nique Nicole. The performances were enhanced with visual HD projections, game footage and other visuals created and programmed by series director Yoko Taro and composer Keiichi Okabe. Between songs, there was a brand new original audio adventure written by Yoko Taro, featuring audio recorded by 2B voice actor Kira Buckland and 9S voice actor Kyle McCarley. The sold out show was jam packed with fans of the series and orchestra music alike, so the attire ranged from casual to full on formal to even heavy cosplay. It was an exciting evening and the orchestra played over 2 hours of fantastic music from both NieR: Replicant and NieR Automata, including two encores. Classic songs like Amusement Park and Songs of the Ancients were played and the final encore was Kaine (our personal favorite.) One particular star of the show was the limited edition merch, with most selling out by the end. The highlights were limited edition artwork posters, vinyl records, mechanical music boxes and clothing. Another highlight was a surprise appearance by series creator Yoko Taro himself at the end of the show to give a small speech. Overall, the event went off without a hitch and the show was deemed a hit by fans. If you are a fan of the series, there’s no better way to experience the music than this kind of show. A complete package of limited edition art and story combined into a fully unique experience.

Spoilers follow So the last episode of Strange New Worlds was an interesting blend of old and new. It’s Strange New Worlds’ first proper time travel episode, and in (what’s becoming typical) Strange New Worlds fashion it tells an original story in a way that is probably familiar to most Trek fans. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” even addresses some Star Trek timeline questions, using its time travel as an excuse to shift timelines a bit. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” shows off how great of an ensemble cast Strange New Worlds has, focusing on one bridge crew member as she gets caught up in time travel shenanigans. It’s not the first time an Enterprise crew member has found themselves in an alternate future, but that’s exactly what happens to La’an Noonien-Sing (Christina Chong) when she finds herself confronted by a mysterious time-traveler in the Enterprise’s corridors–as you do. Before dying, he hands La’an a device which shields her from the ensuing timeline changing effects. When La’an gets to the bridge she doesn’t find Captain Pike in the chair, but instead Paul Wesley’s Captain James T. Kirk. Kirk seems destined to sit in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise, as we’ve seen in multiple timelines–but doesn’t spend much time as captain here. After a brief confrontation with La’an (who doesn’t exist in Kirk’s timeline) they are both transported to the past to undo whatever changed the timeline. One of the challenges of creating a prequel show is its adherence to established canon. Even so, Star Trek canon has been a little loosey goosey at times. There have been attempts made previously to address and even answer some of those canon questions–like the Klingon/Augment story arc in Enterprise–but those attempts have created their own problems. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” once again pokes at the Trek timeline–and even explains why the Eugenics War didn’t happen in the 90s like we expected. (After all, Voyager had its own time travel episode that showed a notably un-dystopian depiction of the 90’s.) I don’t mind these retcons and canon redirects, and while they serve as interesting discussion points for hardcore fans (like myself), casual Trek fans probably won’t notice or care. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” does use its time travel as a bit of “what-if” character exploration. It shows a softer side of La’an as she explores her burgeoning affection for the alternate timeline James Kirk. This Kirk comes from a time where the Federation doesn’t exist, and the Romulan Star Empire is winning a war of supremacy. The episode even slightly touches on Kirk’s understanding that if they succeed, his own timeline will cease to exist. It’s a lot to balance in a single episode, but “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” pulls it off. It even manages a pretty clever misdirect about a supposed ally who turns out to not only be the enemy, but the very person they are trying to stop–a Romulan who has been tampering with the timeline, which even serves as an explanation why the Eugenics Wars didn’t happen in the timeline previous canon established. Despite Paul Wesley having a physicality more like Jim Carrey than William Shatner, he does pull off Kirk mannerisms surprisingly well. I think the character is well served, and shows a more “by the book” side that a lot of casual fans were unaware of. This includes Kirk’s propensity to bluff his way out of situations–though in this episode that leads to his demise –perhaps because he wasn’t bluffing. It’s a bit of an ironic twist, both to Kirk’s propensity to bluff and get away with it, but also to one of classic Star Trek episodes “City at the Edge of Forever.” That episode has a Kirk trapped in the past who finds love–and whose actions have huge historical ramifications. In this case, La’an is the one having to leave her love behind. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” would be a mess on most other shows, but it manages to balance old style Star Trek into modern television standards. It’s not really “where no man has gone before” in terms of Trek television, but it’s better than a remake, and it has enough new and interesting stories to keep this old Trek fan excited for what’s next.

The vinyl resurgence has been chugging along for over a decade now and there's no denying it: the vintage format is here to stay. However the hobby is an expensive one as turntables and speakers/sound-systems come with a big startup cost. In order to alleviate some of that here are our picks for the best turntables under $300 Budget Tables Under $300 Audio Technica AT-LP3XBT - $250 While the Audio Techinica LP60 has been the bastion of super low budget turntables, their slight step up in the AT-LP3xbt is certainly one to consider. Featuring the ultimate beginner needs like fully automatic function and more advanced features like a counterweight which opens up a world of replacement cartridges, the AT-LP3XBT is the perfect first step for the new vinyl listener. Audio Technica: AT-LPW30TK - $250 The Audio Technica: AT-LPW30TK ditches the more beginner features of the the AT-LP3XBT and replaces them with a wood look MDF plinth and an understated look that will shine no matter your decor. All the slightly more advanced feature are still there and is likely the better way to learn how to use a turntable. U-Turn - 199.99 (and up, which you should absolute consider) The U-Turn is the most basic of the bunch and thats the point. There are no extras or things that could inhibit the sound your looking for. its as pure as a turntable you can get and incredibly upgrade-able from the platter, needle, and more. Fluance RT81 - $250 Fluance is a relatively new kid on the block make stellar starter tables. Everything has exceptional quality, especially when you start going up the models.