A Few of My Favorite Things

Resident Evil Village

I watched Capcom’s latest pre-recorded Resident Evil showcase when it premiered live. I learned about it, by chance, two days ago. I’ve passed on Resident Evil 7, but I’m promising myself to play Resident Evil Village. This direct sequel uses the same foundation, but it has different inspiration. Instead of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this game features a more classic-horror motif.

The Resident Evil series is second only to the Metal Gear series based on how long I’ve been playing it. Besides RE7 and Resident Evil 3, I’ve completed the mainline games at least once, including the often-maligned Resident Evil 6. I’m glad that Capcom has continued to steer the series away from the bombastic action of RE6. Village has the methodical dread of the survival-horror sub-genre that RE has pioneered.

Delta Kream by The Black Keys

I missed the live premiere of “Crawling Snake” by The Black Keys, which debuted on the same day as the RE showcase. I found it by chance yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. Their upcoming album being a surprise is telling, though. Hype around the band has cooled in the decade since the release of Brothers and their follow-up, El Camino. Their next two albums, Turn Blue and Let’s Rock have been lackluster by comparison.

I do appreciate a few songs on their more recent albums and on Dan Auerbach’s other-project albums. The Black Keys returning to the Mississippi-Delta-blues sound is the right move, though. This lead-single and the track-list make Delta Kream of 2021 seem like Chulahoma of 2006. The songs are all covers that pay homage to the blues musicians whom they admire.

MLB The Show 21

The preeminent (only) simulation-style baseball game is technically available today. This iteration is noteworthy because it’s the first one that will be available for the Xbox platforms; The Show series has always been developed by a Sony-owned studio, so until this year, it’s only been published for PlayStation platforms. In this era of license-exclusivity, I support more games being available to more players.

The series has existed for 15 years, but I’ve only ever bought MLB The Show 16, and the closest that I’ve gotten to playing it is removing its wrapping. I’ve been tempted to create Benny Rodriguez from The Sandlot, my favorite sports movie as a kid. Benny memorably wears an LA Dodgers hat throughout the movie, and (Brooklyn) Dodgers great Jackie Robinson happens to grace the special editions, which I’m seriously considering.