Commander Sterling

Yeah, I always find that kind of “choice” to be total bollocks and a case of a game making itself look stupid by drawing attention to its lack of meaningful input…

… but it’s absolutely worth it for those games that actually pull the rug out.

Before anyone says anything, because I know someone will wanna - yes I’ve played (and loved) the other Octopaths and I wasn’t expecting an open world or anything, I just thought it was funny and very Videogames(tm).

Screenshot of Octopath Traveler 0: two characters on a snowy path with a warning message that says, “It seems you can’t go any further.”

The *very* first words in Octopath Traveler are “you can go anywhere.”

The *very* first path I tried to explore when I left town resulted in this screen.

This is such peak videogames that I can’t bring myself to legitimately complain about it.

It’s always validating getting emails from developers who watched a video and felt like their frustrations were thoroughly voiced.

I could never claim to actively speak for any other workers in the industry, but it means a lot that when I do speak, others feel heard.

Bad head cannon is exactly how I describe my migraines.

I reviewed Marvel Cosmic Invasion, which charges $29.99 for barely any videogame. It's not well designed, it's short as hell, and it features superheroes who don't feel super in the least. Real shame, given the studio's great track record.

Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/marvel-...

Watched this last night. It's a brilliant evisceration of the state of (most) corporate executives and publishers in the games industry. The "I want a $10m game for $5m" is something I have heard before with lesser sums. Someone once asked me to make a €250k game for €2k.

Genuinely one of the best videos she's ever done. Gloriously vicious, filled with extremely justified fury. Go watch it!

Executives are the only ones regurgitative AI could actually replace. AI can fuck up game projects by making irrational demands based on utterly derivative ideas.

You wanna lay off the dead wood? Start at the fucking top.

Executives are the only ones regurgitative AI could actually replace. AI can fuck up game projects by making irrational demands based on utterly derivative ideas.

You wanna lay off the dead wood? Start at the fucking top.

I’ve been saying the same thing. It’s like they put their fingers on the triggers first because they know who the gun should really be aimed at.

AI could easily fuck up games with stupid demands. We don’t need execs anymore.

Executives trying to replace game developers with so-called AI is nothing short of a usurpation.

They’ve always been clueless interlopers who muscled their way in, and it’s disgusting that they’re the ones authorizing themselves to decide who is needed and who is not.

Game developers were here first. Not executives.

Game developers make games. Not executives.

Game developers have skills & knowledge important to the business. Not executives.

Game developers deserve to keep their jobs. Not executives.

Executives are replaceable. Not game developers.

YouTube video by Casey Explosion Still Wakes The Deep - A Workplace Safety Horror

Hey folks, my new video is out now, a review of the 2024 horror game Still Wakes The Deep, set aboard a Scottish oilrig. I'm really proud of this one, and I think it might be my best video yet! Please give it a look, and let me know what you think.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Oq...

I don’t hate the current look but I would absolutely love her to have a build that reflects her combat role more. She’d look cool as hell with the arms of someone who can punch like a truck as she does.

Alongside one of the most beautifully vicious scripts I’ve written, the big thing to note is that wonderful new intro sequence and rebrand by @pandangit.com.

The new logo in particular is great. I love how the older winged concept has been combined with lobster claws. Zilla just gets me.

No. I explain in this one (and ones from before the break) that I’d been on hiatus for a while due to moving house and my writing gigs becoming full time work. It was longer than expected because the move was so chaotic and the writing gigs expanded even more.

YouTube video by Stephanie Sterling Execucult Of The Techno God

NEW VIDEO: Big business is a death cult worshipping a many-faced Techno God. In an industry full of takers who want to eradicate the makers, so-called AI promises a nonsensical fantasy where games are made for free and sold to a world of laid off former workers. It is unhinged.

youtu.be/xcB_kqpYNhc

The past few months of full time creative writing really paid off with this script, lemme tell you.

YouTube video by Stephanie Sterling Execucult Of The Techno God

NEW VIDEO: Big business is a death cult worshipping a many-faced Techno God. In an industry full of takers who want to eradicate the makers, so-called AI promises a nonsensical fantasy where games are made for free and sold to a world of laid off former workers. It is unhinged.

youtu.be/xcB_kqpYNhc

No, I do a final pass edit for some personal extra touches, add stuff I’ve filmed, and include the music which I prefer to do myself.

Stephanie Sterling with pink/purple lipstick and black/pink corset hat.

Off we go.

I certainly will still complain about the technical horrors of recording/editing and the abusive bullshit of YouTube as a platform, but it hits different when you feel like you’re choosing it rather than doing it because you have to.

Approaching videos more casually is just plain better.

The way I look at it - making videos doesn’t make me happy, but I get joy from making fans of the vids happy.

I used to resent vid work for no longer making me happy, but now that I have that job satisfaction from my other career, the pressure is no longer there and the resentment’s gone with it.

Much of my issues are with editing, which is already mostly outsourced to the wonderful @pandangit.com. My creative pride and obsessive compulsion insists, however, that I do a final draft edit on my own before publishing anything.

I’m engaging with the work in a healthier way now. Not pressuring myself to do vids every week, and the writing/design gigs mean I’m no longer anxious about anything to do with YouTube. Engaging with it purely on my terms has helped me feel *much* better about it.

But god, editing drives me mad.

Re: “You could just stop.”

Probably yes, the writing job would likely allow that now, but if I were to stop I’d owe patrons much more than a sudden cutoff.

Plus I want to make clear I don’t hate the job in its entirety, I’m just venting about the shit parts I’ve never liked.

My return to video creation immediately and consistently reminded me how much of it I haven’t missed 😂.

The first crash came within minutes, and the fuckups piled on from there. I’d almost forgotten the sting of frustrated resentment. Hello, old friend.

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - A Storm In A Port (Review) Tomb Raider: Definitive EditionReleased: November 18th, 2025Developer: Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive, Nixxes SoftwarePublisher: Square EnixSystems: PC, PS4/5, Switch, Switch 2 (r...

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition came to Nintendo's platforms and I reviewed the sad thing. The Switch 2 version is quite a downgrade from what one should reasonably expect, not looking very good despite being marketed on its visuals.

Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/tomb-ra...

I’ve no doubt 90% of unused ideas from “woke” writers would make these guys faint in prudish shock.