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Steam Next Fest Fall 2023: Olympian Wars

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If you know me well, you know I have a weakness for CCGs. Thus, you can imagine my happiness when I came across Olympian Wars , a solo dev project from AltEvil Studios. The game is still very early in development, with no clear release date, but it doesn't look like the demo is going anywhere so you can still enjoy it.  The decks are based on gods - at the moment you can choose from Ares, Artemis, and Poseidon. Cards within those decks are based on that god's mythology. For Artemis, you get the Calydonian Boar and Orion as creature cards, and moonlight, volley, and spirit of the forest as effects. These are combined with a table pool of cards that you can draw from during the game which seem to be non-aligned myth elements: hydra, medusa, etc. Card art looks to be AI generated (which I would be very happy to be corrected on).   The game board is a simple layout. You each get a row of plates that you can lay cards on, and a pool of points in the lower left that you use to play ...
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Steam Next Fest Fall 2023: Labrys

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Labrys , from ETS, is a multiplayer survival horror game set in the labyrinth of Crete. You and your buddies start out in cells deep within the labyrinth, and you have to find a certain number of discs within the maze in order to unlock the door and escape. Unfortunately, there is a large and angry minotaur out for your blood the entire time.  What I really like about this game is the option to play as the minotaur. You get a different set of skills and abilities, and your goal shifts from escaping to killing everything that moves.      The developers have also made good use of online 3D assets, such as the Roman statue seen here. Anachronistic, but nice easter eggs when you're running around. I believe the minotaur can also smash them.   All in all, it's an easy game to jump into. The controls aren't that difficult and in terms of horror, you really only have minotaur jump scares to worry about. I predict this will be the entertainment of choice for Classics So...
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ArtofACOdyssey: Medusa, AKA The Writhing Dread

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  AS PROMISED: this latest installment of #ArtofACOdyssey features the beautiful, deadly, and always badass Medusa. This is going to be a very long thread so strap in and bring a shiny shield.   Medusa standing over Kassandra's body. Screenshot from Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018)   First, a bit of background. Medusa is one of the most recognizable monsters in the classical pantheon and, I daresay, one of the most popular. She lives with her two immortal sisters, Stheno and Euryale, on an island at the edge of night (translation: very far away). Her story grows as time goes on, although she seems to have been associated with Perseus for most of it. She starts out as a child of Phorkys and Keto (Hesiod, Apollodoros, Aeschylus, Pausanias, Nonnius Dionysiaca - Hyginus says Gorgo and Keto and Homer nixes the sisters). Notably, the whole thing about her being a beautiful woman cursed by Athena for being raped by Poseidon in her temple doesn't come along until Ovid. So...
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ArtofACOdyssey: Kronos at Olympia

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Someone at Ubisoft Quebec is a Rubens fan! The monumental statue of Kronos above Olympia is clearly inspired by Rubens' 1636-8 "Saturn" (now in the  Museo Nacional del Prado at Madrid). Kronos devouring a child, Assassin's Creed Odyssey screenshot (Ubisoft 2018)   There are changes to the right arm, robe, and hair, not to mention the addition of wings and blood. The composition and anatomy are clearly post-classical, however. The wings might be inspired by Romanelli's 17th c. painting, as ancient works portray him as a normal, mature man.   Saturn Devouring a Son , Peter Paul Rubens, 1636-1638. Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, P001678. Photo: wiki, public domain.  
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ArtofACOdyssey 10: Heroes Armor Set

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Kassandra took some time out of her busy schedule to pose with her newly completed set of Greek Heroes armor! Let’s take a look at the pieces in #ArtofACOdyssey   Kassandra with a wolf friend, wearing the Greek Heroes armor set. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).   First up, we have Perseus’ helmet. The artistic sources don’t agree on its precise form, although it often had wings (which are replicated here, on Kassandra’s temples) and conveyed invisibility. The flavor text alludes to both this and Perseus’ harpe. Pseudo-Hyginus (Astronomica 2.13) notes that the Greeks called it the Helmet of Hades and that Mercury gave it to Perseus along with talaria and a petasos, but notes that it wasn’t ACTUALLY the helmet of Hades because that would be stupid. Hesiod, on the other hand, says it was the cap of Hades and that it had the gloom of night about it (Shield of Heracles 216ff). There also seem to have been competing versions where Perseus got the ...
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ArtofACOdyssey 9: Signed Monuments

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  I’ve got something a little different today for #ArtofACOdyssey . I spent some time climbing around the Parthenon (as one does) to check out the ionic frieze and found something SUPER interesting on the inside of the porch. Turns out, the Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey Parthenon has a bunch of anachronistic names inscribed! Pictured here are Ubisoft/Ubisoft Quebec technical art director Yannick Morel, 3D artists Hugo Lamarre and Mikael Boulet, and others that google isn’t letting me track down.   Ionic porch graffiti, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018). While we take artist signatures for granted these days, most works in ancient Greece and Rome weren’t signed. There are some obvious exceptions of course…the Orestes and Elektra group from Palazzo Altemps is signed by Menelaos, student of Stephanos (who signed his own version, currently in Naples), and numerous ceramic vessels signed by potters and/or painters. When buildings are inscribed, they most often re...
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ArtofACOdyssey 8: Lion of Keos

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And we’re back with another installment of #ArtofACOdyssey ! Today we’re exploring the Lion of Keos.   Lion of Keos, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).      If you’ve seen the actual Lion of Keos you probably think Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey has lost its mind. If you haven’t…here it is.   A very long, flat stone lion on the side of a hill. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, Phso2, CC-BY-SA 3.0/GNU. This is a great example of an archaic-style lion and is in pretty good condition, although it does look more like the Lion of Gripsholm Castle* than an actual lion. *The Lion of Gripsholm Castle resulted from King Frederick I of Sweden’s need to have a stuffed lion in 1734. He sent the remains back to the royal taxidermist, who had evidently never seen a lion before, but did his best. The lion is now on Facebook and on display in the castle. Clearly neither of those are the lion we see in the game. What we are actually seeing is much closer to the 10m l...
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