July 2026 media
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Tokyo Xanadu: I’m continuing my Falcom run from last month by replaying this oddball in preparation for its sequel, Kyoto Xanadu. On paper it seems like a marriage of Falcom’s strengths; in practice the combat is not quite Ys-quality and the narrative not quite Trails-quality, and it’s all held back by a surprisingly mediocre localization. The bones are still good, but I suspect it’s for the best that Kyoto Xanadu is attempting something significantly different; Ys and Trails have already converged enough that there may not be room between them for a game like this.
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Fargo: Yes, the original Coen brothers film from 1996, not the television show! I hadn’t seen it since catching bits and pieces on TV as a kid, so all I had were hazy memories of specific scenes. (The wood chipper scene is admittedly hard to forget.) Turns out it’s still good! Macy and McDormand are both tremendous, there’s a steady stream of Coen-brand jokes and other slapstick nonsense, and it’s fun to bask in the accents and the “Minnesota nice” vibes. I’m not surprised that they wanted to do more with the setting, even years later and with different characters; it feels like a rich vein.