Justin Ricafort

Six years ago, I reviewed Hades on the site. It was the first video game reviewed on the site and it’s hard not to think about how much gaming trends, the gaming industry, and my gaming habits have and haven’t changed since. Of the things that have grown is the appetite for Supergiant Games’ very first sequel after a career of original, upwardly ambitious indie games. But does the sequel do enough to justify itself to new and old players? Or does it fade into safe, same, monotony?

Name some dream venues to perform at. There’s no shortage of prestigious stages, large and small in Los Angeles, but maybe none as quirky or one-of-a-kind as the North American Mammal Hall with embalmed buffalo, moose, and sea lions. And very few artists are as appropriately attuned to this environment as Thao Nguyen. Thao Nguyen performing with Jason Slota. Photo by Justin Ricafort.

A little preamble here. Melina Duterte is a lore figure at From the Intercom. We often cite a prophetic 2018 show at The Glass House Pomona featuring Jay Som and headliner Japanese Breakfast pre-Jubilee, pre-NYT Best Selling author as a foundational reason for the FTI’s existence; in no small part to founder Li-Wei Chu living in proximity to the area during a time when the indie Asian American scene was maturing. The thing is, I was also at that show before I even wrote for the site.