Every week, Recall Knowledge recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, a preview of the Know Direction content of the week to come, and the director of operations, Ryan Costello, thoughts on the state of the network.
Normally Recall Knowledge is strictly network or Pathfinder related, but given the network’s long history of dipping into 80s properties, G.I. Joe in particular, I figured I’d share my thoughts on a few releases from the last week that had my attention.
Snake Eyes – G.I. Joe Origins
An attempt to reboot G.I. Joe as a film franchise by focusing on its mot popular character. Even though Snake Eyes is the brand’s man of mystery, he’s actually one of the only characters whose backstory was ever explored.
Like the previous movies, Snake Eyes – G.I. Joe Origins took some elements of his established backstory and then put a lot of their own spins on it. I’m not one to complain about changes to the source material, as long as the changes are better or necessary (like removing Reed Richards and Ben Grimm’s time in the Vietnam War).
I wish Snake Eyes was better. There’s an interesting story in the middle of it, but everything good about act 2 is contradicted by act 3. And if that left us with an over the top action movie, that would be fine. But most of the fight scenes are hard to follow shakey cam shots.
The best thing about Snake Eyes – G.I. Joe Origins is the world building. How the movie explains the Arashikage, G.I. Joe, and Cobra are highlights, and the world building doesn’t come at the expense of the movie. It adds to it. Sadly, a box office return that’s way below expectations suggests we’re not going to see any more of the world this movie builds.
Master of the Universe: Revelation
On the opposite end of the spectrum in every way is Master of the Universe: Revelation. Instead of yet another reboot, Revelation is a continuation of the original animated series. It indulges in referencing the old series and toys, features clean, gorgeous cinematography, and a great plot.
There’s a big twist at the end of episode 1, which you either know about by now or have actively avoided, that is polarizing. That said, the majority of the He-Man fans on my social media feeds seem fine with it, so any news sites describing “fan reaction” as negative are rounding out the positive reactions.
It’s only 5 episodes so far, which is really my only complaint. But honestly, I liked it enough to want to rewatch the season, which I’d only consider doing because the season is so short.
I’m already planning Behind The Screens content inspired by Revelation.
Speaking of network content, here’s a recap of what you might have missed last week from the Know Direction Network:
Recap of July 19th to July 23rd
What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?
Monday, July 19th
Podcast
Troubles In Otari Part 1, Episode 3
Spoiler alert: It was spiders. We fought spiders.
Article
Recall Knowledge – Class Checklist
By Ryan Costello
Which classes have I played, and which have I yet to play?
Tuesday, July 20th
Patreon
Patron’s Private Sanctum 23 – KD 253 Post Show AND Pre Show
Not just our post-show for KD 253, but also the preshow we recorded with Jabari Weathers about the intriguing, and heavy, game Red Carnations on a Black Grave.
Podcast
Legend Lore 030 — Investigator
Luis and Loren make me consider bumping Investigator up a few ranks on the “classes I should play next” list.
Article
Fox’s Cunning – Elementary, My Dear Watson! The Bubble Witch and Paflomancer Wizard
By Dustin Knight
Dustin shows how one piece of art, in this case “Elementaly, my dear Watson” by Matteo Brizio, can inspire multiple original PF2 options.
Wednesday, July 21st
Podcast
Presenting – Randal Meyer
The Know Direction network’s own Randal Meyer talks about the journey from fan, to blogger, to freelancer, and his side quest teaching a robot to play Pathfinder.
Article
Behind the Screens – Sympathetic Enemies and Game Lethality
By Ryan Costello
In a world where defaulting certain monster types as evil is flagged as problematic, I tried to get ahead of the curve and address how that might impact the game’s “fight to the death” default.
Thursday, July 22nd
Podcast
Valiant Episode 20: In Which They Encounter Some Strange Energy
This episode of Valiant stands out as much for Luis’ two interjections as for the continuing adventures of the Valiant heroes. In one, he calls out a choice he makes early in the episode that he regrets, explaining why. In the other, he explains why he edited out a long, logistic conversation between the players. Both valuable for GMs and actual play producers.
Article
Investing In: Lost Omens Lore from The Mwangi Expanse
By Rob Pontious
Totally unintentionally, Rob also dedicated two straight installments to the wonderfulness that is Lost Omens – The Mwangi Expanse.
Friday, July 23rd
Podcast
Know Direction 254 – The Mechanics of The Mwangi Expanse
Another couple of Lost Omens – The Mwangi Expanse authors, authors Michelle Jones and Nate Wright, join us, this time to talk mechanics.
I know the focus of reviews has been on the lore Lost Omens – The Mwangi Expanse introduces to the world of Pathfinder, and the impact it has on the gaming world, but I think it needs to be highlighted that the new mechanical options introduced are also game changers.
Article
Monstrous Physique — Anniversarium Golem (PF2E)
By Luis Loza
A bunch of KD staff have birthdays towards the end of July, including Luis, so he celebrated the occasion with a level 24 (!) birthday cake golem. For reference, that’s only one level lower than the highest level creatures in 2e so far. And the Tarrasque and Treerazer have an aura that entices you to bite them? I didn’t check, but I’m confident they do not!
Preview of July 26th to July 30th
This is back to Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.
Monday, July 26th
Article
Recall Knowledge – Expansive Reviews
By Ryan Costello
Woo! Mwangi Expanse!
Tuesday, July 27th
Podcast
Digital Divination 034
Starfinder Developer Jason Tondro replaces Ron this week. He and John talk about being a Starfinder developer, some of the first things he worked on when he joined Paizo, and the development process for coming up with new Starfinder classes in light of the Evolutionist playtest coming out next week.
Article
Burst of Insight by Andrew Marlowe
Andrew Marlowe shares GM and design advice for and from other game systems.
Wednesday, July 28th
Twitch
Know Direction 255 Live – What Makes a Good Character?
Podcast
Game Design Unboxed 20: Dinosaur Island
Jonathan Gilmour, designer of Pandasaurus Games’ Dinosaur Island joins Danielle and Ben to take about designing a game that breaks off from the pack.
Article
Guidance by Alex Augunas
Alex shares his thoughts and comments on topics getting attention in the RPG gaming community.
Thursday, July 29th
Podcast
Know Direction 255 – What Makes a Good Character?
With the logistically intense Mwangi Expanse episodes behind us, we switch gears and have a banter episode about a fun baseline topic: making good characters. With author Neal Litherland.
Friday, July 30th
Podcast
Intrepid Heroes 64
An actual play podcast of the Starfinder Adventure Path Dawn of Flame from Paizo.
Bend the Knee Heightened By Loren Sieg
Loren asks members of an actual play podcast an elaborate question about their tabletop gaming opinions.
Now you know,
Ryan Costello
