The 2 stories in this book act as a foil to the first foundation books near religious myth of Hari Seldon and his Psychohistory. It explores the limits of what we can predict about humans, and the power of an individual's actions. In general I think this makes things more interesting, and more grounded. The characters in this book are also in many ways like I was as a reader. We had expectations about Hari's grand plan, and Asimov exploits that for some really cool reveals. I was genuinely surprised at the ending of part 2, and wish I had others I could talk to about it! Unrelated, while reading this book I had the realization that it (along with the first foundation, and the father brown short stories) consisted of almost entirely conversations. Action was talked about, but rarely happened in the scene. It's amazing what good dialog can do. 8/10 Psychohistorians would sardonically recommend this book.

This game is the perfect example of how you can have great individual parts that don't come together. The graphics are pretty, gameplay is fun chaos, and there's some really witty writing. However, it's how these elements are tied together... or don't... that just makes the whole game feel like I skipped an important cutscene. Maybe its the loading screens right after playing Uncharted 4, or how you just get dropped into a level, or how they very clearly just jammed in some clips from the movie that don't line up with the actual gameplay, or how the bosses are just big boring damage sponges. Its fine, and I finished it, but I honest don't know how this game got such good reviews. Maybe the new one is better?

On face value this is a straightforward and short puzzler. What makes it special are the 3 years of development videos by Mark Brown. The game becomes better after watching them. Plus, the hint system is genuinely great. They're actually hints!... instead of just the solution.

Selfloss suffers from what I'll call 'double vision'. Multiple classes of mechanics are doubled up, or just redundant. There are 2 health bars and 2 ways of healing. In a game this light on combat you only need 1. There's a run button that never gets used mechanically.. just make the character run faster by default! This is really noticeable since the default walk speed feels like moving through molasses. Almost all the puzzles and combat focus around the old man's magic light staff, great! But for some reason there's also this melee sickle attack which frankly feels bad to use. Get rid of that sickle! The game as a whole I think would be better if it simplified and focused on fewer mechanics. This would probably help with the game's general lack of polish. Stuff like scene transitions, animations, and story feel incomplete.

SPOILERS AHEAD! The standout part of this game for me was the full Madagascar sequence. It had that wide linear level design I love so much, with a crazy bonkers chase sequence ending that left me and my wife laying awake in bed with an adrenaline high. It had puzzles, platforming, and action all perfectly balanced together into peak 'Uncharted'. Those 3ish hours alone are worth the price of entry. I also really liked the plot point of Nathan lying to Elena. Its refreshing when main characters make bad decisions, deal with their consiquences, and learn from them. Also props to the writers for portraying a strong 'for better or for worse' marriage.