I'm So Horny For Mysteries Right Now.
Aug. 15th, 2023 11:41 amTaskmaster NZ is back!! I'm so pleased. I'd genuinely struggle to say whether I prefer the New Zealand version or the original UK one; Greg Davies is a much stronger Taskmaster, but Paul Williams might be my favourite assistant, and the NZ version frequently has such great tasks.
Paul Williams went through a lot in the first episode of series four, which bodes extremely well for the rest of the series. I'm sorry, Paul; I love you, but in the scary 'I really want to see this guy get fucked up' way I love my favourite fictional characters.
I wonder what it'd be like if Taskmaster UK and Taskmaster NZ swapped assistants for an episode. It'd be a relaxing holiday for Alex, although I think he'd miss the abuse. Paul, meanwhile, would have a terrifying experience; Greg would eat him alive.
I don't think I've mentioned the Australian version here before, but Taskmaster AU is also worth a watch! Only one season so far, but the tasks are great fun and it has a strong opening cast; Nina and Julia in particular are both fantastic contestants. Nina is an endearingly enthusiastic disaster, and Julia, clearly having a great time, is a wildcard who swings wildly between 'barely making an effort' and 'committing to an alarming extent'.
Tom Gleeson is the Taskmaster for the Australian version, and he's good at it. I prefer Greg, but Gleeson has enough presence, quick wit and delight in messing with the contestants to feel suited to the role.
Tom Cashman doesn't quite have the quality I'm looking for in a Taskmaster's assistant. I can envision him having a normal life when the cameras are turned off, which doesn't entirely seem right; Alex and Paul both feel weird all the way through. But Cashman is solid enough, and he occasionally can't hold back his laughter when a contestant is being particularly disastrous, which I find endearing.
On an entirely different note, Tem and I have started playing Master Detective Archives: Rain Code!
We're not far in - we've only just entered the first labyrinth - but so far it feels like a sort of blend of Danganronpa and AI: The Somnium Files, with all the tonal irreverance and horniness that that implies. We've cheerfully embraced this.
Game: More DP means a higher Detective Rank!
Tem: That's why Columbo always looks so scruffy.
Shinigami: We exchanged an intimate, secret pact, just between us.
Riona: Did we fuck the ghost?
Tem: It does feel like we fucked the ghost.
Shinigami: What? You've forgotten all about how we were so passionately bound together?
Tem: We fucked the ghost.
Oh, no, this game has quick-time events? I'm fine with these in Playstation games, but I don't know the Switch button layout off the top of my head! I never really thought about how important it is to be familiar with the controller for these things; 'X is down, triangle is up, square is left, circle is right' is second nature for me, but of course that won't be the case for everyone.
The first quick-time event glitched somehow, and the prompt was only on screen for maybe an eighth of a second. I thought the game was intentionally presenting an impossible QTE as a joke about how silly QTEs are.
We've got into the habit of announcing 'Master Detective!' at the screen whenever one of the Master Detectives states the obvious. This is not an infrequent occurrence.
Every character name in this game is absolutely ludicrous. 'Zilch Alexander' is a particular standout. Although it's not quite on the level of the Death Note: Another Note light novel, which featured characters named Beyond Birthday, Quarter Queen and Backyard Bottomslash. (And those are only the ones I remembered off the top of my head. Looking those names up to confirm I'd got them right, I found I'd somehow forgotten about Believe Bridesmaid and Blues-harp Babysplit.)
Paul Williams went through a lot in the first episode of series four, which bodes extremely well for the rest of the series. I'm sorry, Paul; I love you, but in the scary 'I really want to see this guy get fucked up' way I love my favourite fictional characters.
I wonder what it'd be like if Taskmaster UK and Taskmaster NZ swapped assistants for an episode. It'd be a relaxing holiday for Alex, although I think he'd miss the abuse. Paul, meanwhile, would have a terrifying experience; Greg would eat him alive.
I don't think I've mentioned the Australian version here before, but Taskmaster AU is also worth a watch! Only one season so far, but the tasks are great fun and it has a strong opening cast; Nina and Julia in particular are both fantastic contestants. Nina is an endearingly enthusiastic disaster, and Julia, clearly having a great time, is a wildcard who swings wildly between 'barely making an effort' and 'committing to an alarming extent'.
Tom Gleeson is the Taskmaster for the Australian version, and he's good at it. I prefer Greg, but Gleeson has enough presence, quick wit and delight in messing with the contestants to feel suited to the role.
Tom Cashman doesn't quite have the quality I'm looking for in a Taskmaster's assistant. I can envision him having a normal life when the cameras are turned off, which doesn't entirely seem right; Alex and Paul both feel weird all the way through. But Cashman is solid enough, and he occasionally can't hold back his laughter when a contestant is being particularly disastrous, which I find endearing.
On an entirely different note, Tem and I have started playing Master Detective Archives: Rain Code!
We're not far in - we've only just entered the first labyrinth - but so far it feels like a sort of blend of Danganronpa and AI: The Somnium Files, with all the tonal irreverance and horniness that that implies. We've cheerfully embraced this.
Game: More DP means a higher Detective Rank!
Tem: That's why Columbo always looks so scruffy.
Shinigami: We exchanged an intimate, secret pact, just between us.
Riona: Did we fuck the ghost?
Tem: It does feel like we fucked the ghost.
Shinigami: What? You've forgotten all about how we were so passionately bound together?
Tem: We fucked the ghost.
Oh, no, this game has quick-time events? I'm fine with these in Playstation games, but I don't know the Switch button layout off the top of my head! I never really thought about how important it is to be familiar with the controller for these things; 'X is down, triangle is up, square is left, circle is right' is second nature for me, but of course that won't be the case for everyone.
The first quick-time event glitched somehow, and the prompt was only on screen for maybe an eighth of a second. I thought the game was intentionally presenting an impossible QTE as a joke about how silly QTEs are.
We've got into the habit of announcing 'Master Detective!' at the screen whenever one of the Master Detectives states the obvious. This is not an infrequent occurrence.
Every character name in this game is absolutely ludicrous. 'Zilch Alexander' is a particular standout. Although it's not quite on the level of the Death Note: Another Note light novel, which featured characters named Beyond Birthday, Quarter Queen and Backyard Bottomslash. (And those are only the ones I remembered off the top of my head. Looking those names up to confirm I'd got them right, I found I'd somehow forgotten about Believe Bridesmaid and Blues-harp Babysplit.)
