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If you like puzzle games, especially asymmetrical cooperative puzzle games, the We Were Here series is a fantastic effort. There’s one problem: it can be pretty hard. And while I like to play co-op puzzle games with friends, sometimes very hard puzzles can throw them off. And the We Were Here series can be pretty brutal at times. We Were Here Expedition:The Friendship is a great introduction into the world of We Were Here, while providing an experience that isn't as punishing as its mainline entries. And the best part is that it’s free until October 16th. We We Here Expeditions:The Friendship is mostly like the other We Were Here games: you have to play cooperatively with a friend, using in-game voice. The voice is depicted as walkie-talkies, which I absolutely love. And it’s a great visual indicator that you will need to be able to talk to your partner to be effective at this game. The Friendship does change the We Were Here formula in some pretty significant ways. In the other games, puzzles were obstacles that you either figured out or you were stuck. In The Friendship puzzles need to be solved to progress–but there are score thresholds. This allows you to pass a puzzle without as much expertise, but also creates the ability to go back and beat your previous score. The We We Here series features some corny voice overs and some pretty spectacular contrivances to move their plot along. Unfortunately you’re forced to endure it, and in the case of The Friendship you have to endure it while riding in a tunnel of love style amusement park ride. This time around the voice over does provide some fundamental hints on how to play We Were Here, but it’s mostly just stating the obvious. I can’t really complain about free, and The Friendship is a pretty good puzzle game–even if it’s very short at less than three hours long. It also feels a bit like an advertisement for the rest of the We Were Here series, but I’m not even mad at that–more people should check them out. We Were Here Expeditions: The Friendship is available today, and is free on Steam until October 12th.

So, maybe it’s a bit of culinary curmudgeon in me that’s not really ever been a fan of taking something that’s already good, like an Oreo, or a cola, and then altering it to be every flavor under the sun just for collectability and novelty’s sake. I mean, if the thing is a definite improvement, say, Double Stuf, or adding chocolate, sure. But if you’re just trying to make people go “WEIIIIIIRD..” well...should we be selling this en masse? I mean, I’m all for innovation. But at what point does something become less a flavor/variation of something like an Oreo and more something else, like a star shaped grape sandwich cookie with a clear gel instead of creme filling? And take it with a grain of salt since it’s Papa John’s old adage, but “better ingredients, better pizza.” I tend to think quality - real, sincere food quality, is what makes something worth writing home - or to you all, about. So I’m not one of those to flock to the store to get every limited edition version of every snack food and drink that hits shelves- it’s not in my nature. If the flavor has an actually descriptive name, like Strawberry or even something that hints at flavors like “tropical” then I’ll pick it up at my leisure, and if I get mad enough about this edition’s flavor being “the scent of the pavement after a summer rain in the desert” then I’ll get that one too - (Looking at you, Coca Cola Limited Edition Ultimate XP flavor, and you, Coca Cola Move which is the flavor of “transformation” - so, mostly to you, Coca-Cola, though Oreo also takes things to egregious extremes) Imagine the rage which stirred in my soul, then, when I saw this press release from Coca Cola, introducing their latest “flavor.” Prepare your souls. Y3000. It;s what the future “tastes and feels like,” according to Coca-Cola’s marketing team, who have collectively gone out of bounds. “Coca‑Cola® Y3000 Zero Sugar was co-created with human and artificial intelligence by understanding how fans envision the future through emotions, aspirations, colors, flavors and more. Fans’ perspectives from around the world, combined with insights gathered from artificial intelligence, helped inspire Coca‑Cola to create the unique taste of Y3000.” So fruity and artificial in a strangely familiar yet vaguely threatening way? Like most of these turn out? But also surprisingly flat, given that it’s zero sugar? But perhaps I’m being too harsh on this beverage concept. Maybe the future tastes like some amazing fruit combination that just hadn’t been thought up yet and who am I to judge? I’ve fallen victim to plenty of food fads to include “make everything with sundried tomatoes” “all the pandemic sourdough” and the only now waning “bacon is the reason I live” thing. It’s just.. AI generated Coke? Are we collectively ready for that? I don’t think I am. Regardless, you can procure the Y3000 from Coca Cola vending machines that are probably not linked to Skynet AND look out for an upcoming fashion collaboration with AMBUSH featuring some limited edition gear...for some reason.

If you’re not familiar with Voyager’s episode “Tuvix” you’ve missed out on one of the longest running debates among Star Trek fans. Personally, I think Janeway made the right decision. Afterall, if you squint and look at it at just the right angle, the Tuvix issue can be seen as a bit of a modern sci-fi trolley problem. However “Twovix” goes full trolley problem, and even ends up validating this author’s view of Janeway’s supposed misdeed. In “Twovix” Ensign Bradward Boimler is hoping for a promotion, promised one by the Cerritos’ first Ransom if nothing goes wrong. Predictably, a whole lot of things go (hilariously) wrong. The USS Cerritos is tasked with escorting the decommissioned starship Voyager. I really like it when a spin-off has you catch up with old characters, and seeing the USS Voyager again felt good. And obviously, Lower Decks will not pass up the opportunity to prodigiously reference Voyager. Overall, there are a lot here that Voyager fans might get a kick out of, including some cuts that can be considered moderately deep. The Clown (portrayed originally by Michael McKeen) makes an appearance, along with Janeway’s Irish holodeck, er, lover. Even Doctor Chaotica makes an appearance with the appropriate retro black and white projector filter that Tom Paris loved so much. But the entire plot revolves around the moral dilemma from Voyager Season 2 Episode 24 “Tuvix.” I always was under the impression that Janeway was in the right in “Tuvix.” That's the episode where Tuvok and Neelix and an orchid they were carrying get turned into a single entity that calls itself Tuvix. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a bit of a trolley problem type scenario, but with a military spin. She lost two members of her crew – one of them being one of her most trusted and capable officer. To destroy this “new” entity for sake of crew effectiveness was essential. I mean, Tuvix had no commitment to loyalty, and he wasn’t even a Starfleet officer – despite what his memories were. That isn’t even considering Tuvok’s family. A Starfleet officer would be willing to make the sacrifice for his crew, and Tuvix was not – being forcefully separated while begging for his life. Sure, Janeway was coldhearted, but it was what had to be done. And “Twovix” validates that a tiny bit. In “Twovix” that same scenario plays out in a completely different way. When Chief Medical Officer Doctor T’ana and Chief Engineer Billups get “Tuvix’d” they form a new entity calling itself “T’illups.” Captain Freeman doesn’t know how to solve the problem, so she wants to see “how Janeway did it.” And Janeway's method turns out to be horrifying. Obviously, T’illups wants nothing to do with this, and begins “Tuvixing” other crew members to rise up against their potential murderers. In typical Lower Decks fashion, old Star Trek storylines are examined with some fun being made. In this case, the Tuvix “problem” is set to 11 as Vulcan lower decks crewmember T’Lynn solves their version of the problem by combining ALL of the already combined crewmembers into a large mass. Of course, they all get separated, and it’s a happy ending. However, I’m a little bummed that the moral/immoral action was taken by a Vulcan, and not by one of the main crewmembers. Maybe it’s the writers’ themselves commenting on how Janeway’s solution was the “logical” one. I might be stretching a bit. “Twovix” is certainly a love letter to Voyager fans. And even though I’m not the biggest fan of Voyager, I loved it. The closing scene had a bit of poignancy for me and possibly for other fans of Voyager that felt a little let-down by that show’s abrupt ending. Seeing USS Voyager finally home, on earth, was something I’ve waited over 27 years to see. Lower Decks continues its trend of heartfelt and clever storytelling, while still exploiting its format to maximum effect. Lower Decks led the way for modern Trek to shine the way it has, and I’m looking forward to what looks to be a great season.

I don’t think an umbrella-turned-firearm would be my first choice to avenge a dead wife, but it’s a perfectly viable choice in the self-proclaimed “noir punk” world of Gunbrella, an action platformer from doinksoft, developer of Gato Roboto. Gunbrella invokes in my mind an image of Shovel Knight, except you’re a guy with a gun…brella. There’s a few similarities–they’re both side scrolling action games with a quirky style. But Shovel Knight excelled at world building, and never let its style of humor get in the way. Gunbrella, however, forces you to embrace the quirkiness through repetition of cutscenes and constant dialogue. If it was something I could mostly avoid I wouldn't care so much, but if you don’t talk to the NPCs in Gunbrella quests won’t proceed, and you’ll even miss the best stuff the game has to offer. Gunbrella is at its best when you’re moving, shooting, and fighting. The eponymous gunbrella works as your trusty weapon – it's a shotgun with a moderate spread. However, it also acts like a shield AND a way to dash or float upwards. If you open your umbrella right as a projectile hits it, you’ll shoot the projectile back. You can also use it for movement, floating up into the air like some sort of gun-toting Mary Poppins. Combat in Gunbrella sometimes feels as fast and vicious as Hotline Miami’s–though enemies aren’t nearly as deadly. Gunbrella does eventually become a more difficult game, but I had to play it for a couple of hours before it ramped up its challenges. The hardest parts of Gunbrella are probably the boss fights–usually fights against animated piles of meat, and occasionally the extra difficult NPC. There are some Dark Souls influences in Gunbrella, like the ability to rest at benches (and sometimes beds) to create a checkpoint and renew health. However, enemies don’t respawn like they would in a soulslike, instead rotting away with rats or crows picking over their permanently dead corpses. It’s a refreshing change from games that try so hard to get some of that soulslike magic into their own games, but it also means there’s less time to dash and shoot–which is easily the best part of Gunbrella. Gunbrella very much wants its players to be invested in its world. Choices you make in Gunbrella have consequences – helping out certain NPCs can prove to be helpful in the long run. It’s nice that in Gunbrella it feels like I can do good deeds and not have them punished, as doing the “right” thing often gives some sort of benefit. I would have preferred if I could take Gunbrella’s quirkiness where I wanted, and leave it where I didn’t–but being forced into long strings of dialogue after meeting endless amounts of NPCs really dragged down the pacing for me. I just wasn’t that interested in the why as much as the whole gunbrella part. Gunbrella’s not a bad game–in fact, it has moments where it was excellent–but it’s not a great game. And that’s almost worse. Gunbrella is available today on PC via Steam and on Nintendo Switch. A Steam key was provided to us for this review

So Gun media has a thing with horror movie IPs and asymmetrical horror games, that’s apparent. Their previous entry into this niche sub-genre, Friday the 13th, developed by Illfonic, didn’t do so great after a lawsuit destroyed any chances of that game getting further updates. That’s was a bummer, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game sounded like a great follow-up. Developed by British studio Sumo Nottingham, Gun had new talent working on yet another horror IP–so what could go wrong this time? I would love to say that asymmetrical multiplayer games were more common, but sadly, there hasn’t really been any great examples since Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2 and Evolve. There’s an argument to be made for Dead by Daylight, but it doesn’t quite capture the feel of a team working against another team. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game does scratch the itch for that a bit. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game you can play as four survivors trying to make their way out of the house of the murderous Sawyer family. Or you play as the family themselves in a 4v3 format (four survivors, two family members and Leatherface) Each survivor and family member has their own strengths, weaknesses, and abilities to exploit. It’s all pretty run-of-the mill, and makes some characters shine over others. There are also environmental hazards and obstacles that either the survivors or family can exploit, depending on the context. For instance, survivors can run under obstacles that might block family members, while the family can open/lock doors–or even just bust through obstacles. I would love to speak to the longevity of this game, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game servers are mostly empty. They have even turned off crossplay between PC and console players due to hackers running rampant on PC. So if you own the game on PC, you’re just shit out of luck until these issues are patched out. And by that time, who will care? This game doesn’t have the longevity to last past a few months. It’ll have a DLC or two and then get lost to the next streaming sensation. Something that Dead by Daylight did right was have a general IP. There are only so many ways you can exploit The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And while the game did a great job in its visual recreation of the movie, it didn’t really capture the feel of the film.Sure, it kinda looks like the movie, but the claustrophobic horror and dawning realization of the family’s depravity are all lost to character select screens and character abilities. At least Friday the 13th had schlock built in. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre invoked an acute sense of dread that would be hard to recreate in a game, let alone an asymmetrical multiplayer game. At least I know this game will never be popular enough that Leatherface will make his way into Fortnite. Hey, it wasn’t all bad. I did get to go to a pre-release party and meet Kane Hodder and some of the cast of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as some actors that did work for the game. I also met some influencers with questionable marketing suggestions and $75 dollar an hour consulting fees. Also, we didn’t get prerelease keys, and smaller publications were relegated to getting post-release keys, guaranteeing that we’ll lose out on the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game’s moment. Because that’s all it really had, just a flash and it was gone, off of the radar of most gamers, and into obscurity where it belongs. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game is available now for Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and for PC via Steam.

As someone who is mildly afraid of heights, I wouldn’t necessarily describe climbing as a meditative experience. However, developer Don’t Nod has set out to make Jusant just that: a game focused on climbing with “meditative vibes.” Jusant is a third person adventure game with some puzzle elements. You play as a character determined to climb upwards, along with their companion–a water creature called a Ballast–that hangs out on their back. Your companion is attuned with nature, and can make plants grow and even show you the way forward–quite handy to get around obstacles that might otherwise be unpassable. Your main goal in Jusant is to climb–and as you do, you’ll climb through the ruins of an abandoned civilization. One that vanished along with the water. The secrets of Jusant are revealed through messages left behind, but also in clues scattered throughout the environment. As you climb through Jusant, you’ll find yourself in multiple different biomes. In the preview version we had a chance to play through two different biomes. Each biome has different fauna and hazards; for example, we explored a hot desert biome that made your stamina go down quickly. Also, plants summoned by our companion shriveled and died in the heat, putting pressure on our character to climb faster. Even if you do run out of stamina while climbing, or miss a jump, you aren’t punished harshly for your mistake. The stakes are never very high. Stamina is the only status gauge in Jusant–there is no health, and really no way to die. If you fail, you can just restart where your last landing or piton was. Climbing in Jusant is a little more involved than just telling your character where to go. Playing with a controller, each trigger acts as individual arm movements. It’s not as unforgiving as something like QWOP, but it does add a little bit of strategy to climbing. Jusant is also just as much of a puzzle game as an adventure game, as some obstacles require some problem solving skills, and even outside the box thinking. And there are usually multiple routes to take, so if you get stuck, there may be an alternate route. Our experience with Jusant was limited to the preview version we had available–and it really made us eager to climb all the way to the top. If you’re curious about Jusant’s gameplay, wishlist it on Steam and look out for the demo which is coming soon. Jusant will be available in October. A Steam key was provided to us for this preview

Mild spoilers follow I’m a sucker for a sci-fi game, especially if it’s horror adjacent. Throw in a futuristic abandoned facility to explore, and you couldn’t keep me away. Fort Solis checks all of the boxes, but while it makes some novel decisions, it’s ultimately a slow burn with a lack of a significant payoff. Fort Solis is a third person sci-fi adventure game. In it, you play as a Jack–sent to investigate an alarm call at a remote mining base on Mars. Once there, it’s clear that something isn’t right. You have to figure out what happened at Fort Solis through exploration, and the time tested method of collecting emails and video logs to fill in narrative blanks. While Fort Solis can be described as a “thriller” it’s not exactly a horror game. It’s a bit refreshing to have a sci-fi video game thriller instead of the well-tread horror, but Fort Solis doesn’t quite make for a great argument in that regard. Despite its spooky premise, Fort Solis initially sends some mixed messages. Protagonist Jack hardly seems bothered by the lack of people in the station. In fact, he’s so unbothered that he moves at a glacially slow pace throughout the game. This slow movement speed helps to build tension towards the beginning, but when the story starts to ramp up and you can only move your character at a slow walk–it begins to feel ridiculous. It’s possible that it’s an intentional decision to hide a short playtime–I managed to finish Fort Solis in about 5 hours–but even if so, it’s at the expense of fun. Even a slow jog would have been better than the “I can’t be bothered” gait. Unfortunately, you don’t do much more than walk in Fort Solis. There is, of course, the occasional computer to read emails from, or even the odd audio recorder you can steal the memory card from to upload to your on-arm PDA. But there is no combat, and the most challenging gameplay comes in the form of quick-time events. And they’re horrible. The quick time events don’t even seem to have any immediate effect if you fail, surprisingly. The story will play out exactly how it would one way or another. As far as I can tell, the ending may be affected by your quicktime prowess but I didn’t do enough experimentation to be able to say for sure. Fort Solis is a pretty by-the-numbers thriller–explore, watch video logs, and eventually you’ll gain access to more parts of the mining base. It took about an hour or two of playtime before Jack started to get excited about what he was finding–and that was already some time after finding a pool of blood on the ground. I guess my point is, Jack does little to sell the tension. However, the voice in his ear (for some of the game) is Jessica, and while she does emote a little more in line with what you’d expect, there’s not really much for even Jessica to get scared about. While Fort Solis shies away from the alien or supernatural for its horror, I wish it hadn’t. It definitely does not capitalize well on its premise, beyond some creepy (and some hammy) line deliveries by Troy Baker. I would have almost preferred working against Mars itself, rather than a disgruntled employee that decides to murder all of his co-workers. And especially because the threat boils down to one guy with a grudge, the protagonists make some decisions that had me scratching my head, or even yelling at the screen. Decisions I had no choice in, which doubly sucks because I always hate it when I lose agency in a video game. The voice acting in Fort Solis is pretty damn good, however. Troy Baker leads a cast of capable voice actors. And while Troy Baker tries to steal the show here, I feel like they let him off of his leash just a tad too much. His performance would have benefitted from a little less. The rest of the cast, however, gives some pretty spot on performances. Fort Solis isn’t a bad game, it’s just a disappointing one. Usually I can tell if I’m going to like a game within the first couple of hours, but I wasn’t sure about Fort Solis until near the end. Its beautiful Unreal 5 graphics and excellent premise were enough to keep me interested. However, it’s such a long, slow burn that by the time I got to the end, it didn’t feel worth all of the slow walking. Upon my discovery that there were multiple endings, I audibly scoffed. I’m not doing that shit again. A Steam key was provided to us for this review.

There were so many great celebs lined up on Saturday's panel schedule we figured we'd have to do nothing but sit in panels all day long and only leave when they cleared the room to bring you everything there was to see. So...we pretty much did that, split among our entire convention team, of course. It's still a lot of trips around convention center ballrooms past the watercooler, so we hope you enjoy what we got! Henry Winkler is the perfect person to start out your day in Fan Expo Chicago 2023’s panel rooms with. As it turns out, the Fonz is even cooler in real life than he was on the silver screen on Happy Days. Winkler is a frequent guest here at Fan Expo and it’s evident why from entering the room to his warm smiles. The former Fonz is full of fatherly wisdom, advice and love for his fans and life in general, and it’s always uplifting to be in his presence. We hope he stays a show mainstay for a long long time. Just shortly thereafter, we wandered over to the Jodi Benson panel hoping to be part of her world for a moment. The SAG-AFTRA strike struck again in regards to the actress being able to actually sing the song that the panel was named after, but it didn’t dampen the deep dive she’d go on about being Ariel. For those that didn’t know, much like Scott Weinger’s deal with Aladdin, Benson is the voice of Ariel singing and speaking in every single one of her appearances up until recent works which could not be discussed. And as it turns out, this gig of a lifetime only came about because of Howard Ashman and his warm heart. As it turns out, Benson and Ashman had worked together before, on a show called Smile that turned into a Broadway flop, leaving Benson out of a job. She and a few others were asked to audition for the mermaid’s role. The rest is history. But not every audition was smooth sailing and Jodi Benson had a fantastically awkward tale from her Toy Story tryout. Benson, who voiced Barbie in Toy Story 2, went in to start recording and encountered executives who were imploring her to please be careful with her portrayal, since this would be the first time Mattel had allowed Barbie to have a voice. Jodi was confident she’d ace the part because, unbeknownst to this director, Barbie had indeed had a voice, and it was hers! Mattel had in fact allowed Barbie a voice for a workout video that predated the Toy Story franchise. When she tried to relay this to the director she was met with a bit of skepticism and awkwardness, despite trying to smooth it over and not sound like she was asserting herself, but, the actress said, ‘it was a bad day.’ Overall though, the ride through Disney fame has been a “blessing from heaven” and “unbelieveable gift” for Benson, and she continues to love to see where Ariel’s story goes, and interact with fans. She did sing, much to the delight of the panel audience, choosing a song called Harmony, appropriate given the strike and the current needs of the world at large, and we wrapped up our time delighted to have met a real Disney princess. Holy crap, so Ivan Raimi’s an emergency surgeon. I guess that’s our main takeaway from the Sam and Ivan Raimi panel. This is knowledge that obviously some fans had, but had completely flown under our radar. When it was revealed it was an amusing moment, because a fan asked Ivan Raimi how well his brother Sam depicted the practice of medicine–and Ivan scoffed, and specifically brought up how the medical scenes in Dark Man were barely passable. Surprisingly, one fan asked about director Sam Raimi’s signature close-up shots–something we thought was a bold question. You don’t just ask a magician how they do their magic! However, Sam Raimi had a fantastic answer–and it’s all about building up tension, while showing the characters’ reaction to that unknown fear that us, as the audience, isn’t even privy to. Tom Wilson was in rare form on Saturday afternoon at Fan Expo. His panel began with a ukulele solo about all the questions he’s been asked repeatedly on his career. The crowd had a blast with the music, he then followed up with a discussion on what it means to work in the industry, and grinding for something greater. Overall it was a great time with some interesting insight. Danny Trejo is known for being a badass, and is probably the “most recognizable Latino in the world,” as he puts it. Known for playing a tough guy (and often a thuggish bad guy) in movies, Trejo in real life is a jovial, almost grandfatherly presence. He’s reached a surprising 80 years old–but definitely doesn’t look like it. While Trejo is definitely more grandfatherly now, he did come from a rougher background. The actor talked about the time he did in San Quentin, and how, afterwards, he was discovered while working as a drug counselor. He made his big break when a casting director asked him if he could stand around and look tough for $300 dollars a day. And it turns out Trejo enjoyed acting, and stuck with it as a lifelong career. “Find something you love doing, and get paid doing it” he told the audience–and he definitely found it. You wouldn’t have had to look for the union label when going to see Michelle Hurd at her panel at Fan Expo Chicago. As the VP of the LA chapter of SAG-AFTRA, Hurd is at the heart of things, and with the characteristic warmth, grace and dash of humor that endears her to so many on screen, she managed to get to the heart of things with the strike and with her fans. But the actress didn’t just bring platitudes – she brought facts, with statistics on just how many working actors don’t qualify for 26,000 a year insurance, or who make under $12 an hour. “The bulk of artists are working class” she stressed. She went on to explain things like the concept of Top of Show, where studios can pay the minimum they’re forced to pay for long hours of work that don’t offer health insurance. But it’s not just about actors, she said, and it’s not just about the entertainment industry - it’s happening with professionals everywhere, and we need to stand up and say enough is enough – which it’s obvious Hurd is doing with every word. Hurd was lovely to her fans as well, managing to make her voice heard and then still give back to fans with a look at her upbringing and the way her father inspired her to go do new things and be a well rounded person. While she couldn’t mention much of what fans wished she could, she did give nods, mentioning that in the future when the strike was resolved there’s a few things she’d like to do - work with writers and the writer’s union, work towards more representation in media of POC and LGBTQIA+ folks and work on a spinoff that fans would absolutely adore. We hope she does all three. For our last panel of the day we sat in for a chance to hear what Felicia Day had to say. It’s been a minute since we’d been up on what's been going on for her, so it was good to hear her tell a little bit about her life now. Day said she’s learned more about herself and the world after becoming a mother, and talked a little bit about her daughter Calliope and her social struggles, as an introverted child. She said she’s learned to recognize when situations or people might be too much for her daughter and help her ground herself and feel like she has permission to not be in those places or around those people, but, the actress admits, she rarely let herself, also an introvert and anxious person, have the same accommodations. “I really didn’t treat myself well” Day said. It’s something the actress has since learned and embraced though, and she talked a little bit about leaving Geek and Sundry to spend more time with her daughter as a decision she had absolutely no regrets about. We wish her well and were glad to see her embracing self-care - something we could all afford to give ourselves a little more of. We hope you enjoyed catching up with all the celebs from Saturday at Fan Expo Chicago 2023 – if you still want more stay tuned for a report from Sunday (along with another cosplay gallery!) and bonus content from our team soon, too! Editor's Note: Actors not pictured were not pictured at their request due to the strike.

Sure, the panels are fun. Merch is great. But really, when you hit the convention floor, isn't the best part seeing and being seen? Cosplay is an essential part of every con-going experience. Whether you're dressing up as your favorite character or chasing down someone who's done the work for you, it's fun to find the best of the best, and that's our goal every time our photographers hit the show floor. Here's a little glimpse of what was to come from Thursday's shortened day. See what you think!

Friday was the first full day of Fan Expo Chicago 2023 and with that comes lots and lots of celebrity guest appearances in panels. This year, things are a little bit different in the panel rooms, with the SAG-AFTRA strike preventing celebs on site from talking about or performing struck work, but it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to discuss. Past work can be a topic of conversation within the actor’s discretion, and there’s plenty of fun to be had talking about being behind the scenes on any set, or discovering the origin stories of these actors and actresses. As doors opened on Friday a few cancellations were announced, too, with Brent Spiner, Chevy Chase and a few others bowing out due to illness, but the show must go on, and go on it did, beginning with Tara Strong’s panel on Friday morning. Tara Strong took to the Fan Expo stage Friday morning to a joyfully packed crowd of die hard fans. Taras’ IMDB lists a lifetime of incredible work dating back to the Care Bears back in 1988 on through her performance of several voices in World of Warcraft. Fans recounted some of her more notable works, specifically Raven of Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go as well as Harley Quinn in the Batman Arkham video games. Strong regaled the crowd with stories of her times with the Teen Titans Go team, as a tight knit family. She also told one particularly interesting story about how Kevin Conroy had once previously saved her life. Right when Twitter verification was introduced, Tara was talking to a “verified” Kevin Conroy in Twitter DM’s and had set a time to meet with the actor for lunch in the future. A few days later she was working with Kevin for the first time in person and had mentioned that she loved talking to him on Twitter, to which he responded “I don’t have Twitter.” As it turns out she had been talking to a complete stranger. This harrowing tale, along with some voice work as Harley Quinn, were big hits with the crowd, and we’re glad to have seen Strong grace the Fan Expo stage. Next up on our list was the “Out of this World CONversation with Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackhoff and Emily Swallow.” This was one of the most anticipated events for the con, and once again the strike loomed large at first as a shadow over fan expectations, but with the steady hand of a great moderator in Victor Dandridge, fans got a great experience anyway. With the elephant in the room looming, Dandridge instead turned conversation into what inspired the actors and how they got started. Of the three, most had a passion for the stage early on, with Sackhoff saying that at only six years old it was her desire to “give people goosebumps” with her performances one day, and Swallow recalling her strong desire to get on Star Search. Giancarlos’ story was a bit different, though he did grow up in a household of performers with a family full of musicians – it just took him a little longer to find what he wanted to do. Esposito ended up stealing the show somewhat, as he often does with his performances, and spent some time talking about the importance of the SAG - AFTRA strike. “When one boat rises all boats rise, that’s the idea” he said. And while he has no fear about his bills or financial situation, that’s not true for everyone. Esposito mentioned that he’d had a desire just before the strike to take a break and work on other projects. The strike is affording him that time, he said, but also time to support his fellow actors who can’t make rent. Esposito also alluded to one of the union’s most salient points, AI avatar usage, saying “I don’t want you to get something that looks like me, I want you to get me.” before evolving the conversation into what turned out to also be an incredibly inspirational talk about being the most authentic version of you you can be. “Think today for tomorrow,” he implored. “This is about dreams. You can build it and if you build it, they will come.” Giancarlo went on to talk about how we’re all energy, and we forget to be children who have fun without limitations. All three of the actors spoke on their strengths and the things that made them the most happy in life as well, with Katee Sackhoff talking about the joys of motherhood and leaving California to spend more time with her daughter and Swallow sharing her love for conventions and meeting the folks who make it all happen - the audience who loves what the actors do so much and the stories they tell. When we walked into Peter Weller’s panel, it was something else entirely. The SAG-AFTRA strike is really taking its toll on the convention circuit. When we entered the Peter Weller panel, he was talking about the works of Caravaggio and how the artist best captured Christ and his disciples. This was unexpected, but it turns out the question was about who Weller would want to paint him. Caravaggio is a great choice, but considering that the conversation could be in the realm of his earlier works–like his legendary role as RoboCop–an impassioned conversation about art history was not at all what I was expecting. Weller did have some amusing stories about his 11 year old son though. Anytime either Weller or his wife swears he has to tally money which later goes to his son for what his son calls the “modern social version of allowance.” And based on Weller’s telling, that little kid is making bank. Well, that’s all for us for Friday’s lineup, but stay tuned for even more from Fan Expo Chicago 2023, including our fantastic cosplay galleries.

Saturday's the big day, and this year Fan Expo felt like it was bursting at the seams with people on the show floor, and we were excited to see it. Even though full to bursting floors mean it's harder to stop people to see their amazing costumes, it also means there's lots more people to catch, and we gave it the ol' college try in between panels and events to make sure you could see everyone in their nerdy finest. Enjoy, and stay tuned for Sunday's collection of cosplayers, fan catchups and maybe even some bonus content!

Everyone who's been to Fan Expo Chicago knows that Friday's the day things really kick off. Thursday this year was impressive, and set the tone for a bigger, better con altogether, but Friday's still the day that seems to really kick things off, with more people taking off work and taking their families out to Rosemont for all the fun. We were, of course, on site, and taking in all the amazing cosplay in between panels with our favorite celebs. Check all the awesome cosplay out and we'll see you on the floor for one more day!