The Wolf Among Us – Episode 1 Faith Review

BigbyCigaretteFable.jpgThis game quickly took the top list of favorites in my book second only to Telltale’s The Walking Dead series.  They came very close to knocking The Walking Dead out of my number one spot but not quite.

Telltale tackled a very well done adaptation of Bill Willingham’s Fables which centers a story around Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of a magical New York City which is populated by fairy-tale toons.  Fables is a very dark fairy-tale so not one for the children but the way Telltale pulled this story into it’s unique game play design is fantastic.

Over the next few weeks we will take a look at this five part series on The Wolf Among Us and as I was saying this is one of the best adventure games I’ve played.  The first episode of this series is called Faith which slaps you smack dab into the middle of a mystical version of New York.  You now have to fill the shoes of Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown and Telltale does a fantastic job building on it’s choice and consequence game system.

images (2)This was a relatively quick episode to play but easily a two hour chunk of time you need to really see everything in this first episode.  The game drops some majorly hard bombs on you early on with the decisions you have to make, but being a big bad wolf made it a little easier to rough some Fables up.  Action and adventure are some of the main themes of this first episode but at the heart of things comes a mystery.  This is what makes this game such a joy to play is the wide use of emotions and rich story surrounded by well done characters.

If you’ve played any of Telltales games you know how the game system works as it’s not only decision based, but reaction based as well.  You’ve got to be quick when watching what needs to happen next and make sure you think quickly.  Each decision has a different outcome so it makes you want to come back for more just to see what they are. These actions aren’t just limited to Bigby as the world ded with is scattered with crazies and very entertaining characters.  Tad of a “SPOILER” alert but this first episode revolves around solving a murder which hasn’t happened in Fabletown for quite some time.

images (1)During your search, you’ll come across a rather interesting toad who refuse to hide himself from the human world, a member of the Three Little Pigs with a bit of a drinking problem, and an abusive woodsman with a startling revelation regarding Snow White. Since it’s based on characters that pretty much everybody knows, The Wolf Among Us is able to toy with our expectations and delivering some very surprising and entertaining character developments. It’s amazing how the dialogue swings between funny, absolutely tragic, brutal, and magical all over a course of the two-hour episode.

Even the entrance and presentation of Faith brings a very successful highlight to the harsh and strange world you see. All of this episode’s crazy interactions are met with a fantastic 80’s neon lit color style.  While you step into the alternate New York City, you get to experience a clash of both magic and gritty decision making that brings you quite close to the story and characters.

Bigby’s story arc has some very large moments of decision making which really pulls you into the characters past and present.  Bigby has a very complicated story which ties into so many of the stories characters it’s quite difficult at times to know what decision to make.  This made me want to go back multiple times to look over all the decisions you could make and replay each scenario.  This is one game and adventure that I will definitely go back to play over and over again.

Newbie Blogger Initiative 2016 – Writing With Focus

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Starting a blog is easy for the most part as the tools you can get now days makes the startup pretty seamless.  What isn’t so easy is staying focused while writing as it takes time, and time is the killer for most writers.  Either we don’t have enough of it, or we lose focus over a period of time and get frustrated with what we were trying to accomplish.  I’ve been down these paths quite a lot before but over the years it’s helped me learn how to stay focused, or at least narrow it down so I can enjoy writing.

One of the questions I hear a lot from new bloggers is am I doing this blog thing correctly?

That question is very broad but when you break all those pieces down into why you started your blog and even why you started writing…..that question becomes pretty easy to answer.

Doing this blog thing comes down to personal preference overall but be willing to focus your material and niche so you can reach an audience.

These are just a few things I’ve stumbled over and even sometimes fallen on my face while writing and blogging.  I’m no professional by any means, but I enjoy what I get to do with my little corner of the internet and I want to make it the best I can.

One of the ways to improve your blog is step back and examine all of the aspects of what your blog brings for readers.  Do you have a vision for the blog, or at least an idea of the direction you want to go?

The more you narrow your focus, the more you broaden your audience.  This is where vision and an idea of where and what the blog will look like helps.

Before you begin writing, consider your subject (what you want to write about), then figure out the the theme (your angle and area of focus), then put it into action and figure out what you want to accomplish.

What subject or subjects are you writing about, and what are you passionate about?  If you can bring those two ideas together then you’ve made a huge step as that’s something most writers struggle with for years.

Take a look at the theme of your site and writing style as well.  Think of it as a subset of your main topics and figure out what that looks like for you.  Ask yourself: What will my writing “VOICE” be? Will it be tackling the humorous side of things, or maybe you take a more practical approach to writing.

Lastly, take a look at what you want your blog to accomplish overall.  This is the main goal of this little exercise so take some time and look at what impressions you want to leave the readers with.  Ultimately the question is why am I blogging and how does it bring enjoyment to my life?

For me writing is a passion but connecting with people is a bigger passion and that is where my enjoyment and focus comes from.

One of my writing mentors gave me this little nugget years ago and quickly became a favorite quote and one I stuck to when I was struggling with writing.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”         – Louis L’Amour 

 

 

Newbie Blogger Initiative 2016

 

1464077259935Time has absolutely flown by as it seems just yesterday I was writing my first post ever for NBI and my blog.  It was two years ago that I first got involved with the Newbie Blogger Initiative. I wasn’t able to participate much last year due to my schedule and this year it almost seemed as though NBI was going to be postponed.  But that is not the case as Doone himself was lurking around Twitter and low and behold an announcement from him that June would be the month for NBI.

Once again we get to see the Dragon and already we are seeing new faces joining the blogosphere realm asking questions about NBI.

For those who aren’t quite sure what the Newbie Blogger Initiative is, here’s a look back to it’s origins.  The Newbie Blogger Initiative is an annual event created by Syp of Bio-Break back in 2012. His main goal was to bring writers together and hopefully start an MMO blog of their own.  It was a place to rally bloggers alike and have encouragement, advice on topics, and overall help with getting traffic to the new bloggers sites.

Why does the NBI exist?

NBI exists to help encourage bloggers (Gaming) bloggers to be specific, but all in all it’s here to help writers, and content creators.  This event has a large group of veterans who have helped over the years and they have a wealth of information to share.  It’s one of the reasons we “Veterans” enjoy this event as we get to pass down the torch of knowledge to anyone who wants it.  NBI exists to help new bloggers get their blog started off in the right direction, and to give any advice we can offer to anyone willing to write and create material for such a blog.

Are you Ready to Participate?

Are you questioning if you can participate in this event, well don’t as all are welcome here. But to be counted as a “Newb” in the Blogosphere you need to have just started blogging within the last year.  That doesn’t mean any of the oldie but goodies are excluded from the event as our “Veterans” as I mentioned above are a huge key to this event as well.

How do I get involved? 

You can follow any of the links below to get started and see all the chatter going on about the event.

 

 

NBI Forums 

NBI on Twitter 

Discord Invite Code: https://t.co/bZLA0YGZSk

 

 

If you’ve ever tossed the idea of blogging around then I hope NBI is what kick starts that fire and helps get you going.  I’ve been writing for years and even today after setting down and looking back, it’s not been an easy journey, but it’s been a very satisfying challenge.  Writing is a passion and just part of who I am, and I hope that passion rubs off onto the next generation of writers.  I hope you all take the challenge and enjoy the 2016 Newbie Blogger Initiative!  Can’t wait to see you all around!

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#NBI2016 #NewbieBloggerInitiative #Writing #Blogging #Writer #Blogger #Creative Writing