Rowan Kaiser
VICE
Kansas City, MO, United States
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Past articles by Rowan:
'Mass Effect Legendary Edition' Unifies the Series' Fractured Release Order
Finally, the gang is all here at the same time, for everyone who buys the game. → Read More
Veronica Mars never fully accepted what it meant to be good—until the movie
When the Veronica Mars movie was released in 2014, it was almost more important symbolically than anything else. It was proof that fans and creators could bypass network meddling, using social media and crowdfunding to produce another installment of a series canceled long before its time. Alternately, it was seen as demonstration that fandom wouldn’t let a good thing stay dead, that there was… → Read More
Prom Week (Browser / Facebook)
I never went to prom. I know this may sound shocking – a video game fan who grew up to become a critic, who also didn’t do the normal high school traditions?!? Strange but true! Really, the only positive associations I have with prom come from a single episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer . So how on earth does a game named Prom Week hold any appeal to me? Two words: “social physics.” → Read More
The Sense8 finale is equally beautiful and incoherent—just like the show itself
“We live in a world that distrusts feelings,” says Sense8, at the end, when it has the moment to say exactly what it wants to say. The words are spoken by Amanita, who, throughout the series has become the audience surrogate—the first “sapien” to be told of the sensates, and increasingly part of the fandom for the sensates, and by extension Sense8 itself. (At one point she yells “HOT DAMN I’VE… → Read More
My Crazy, Russian-Modded, Alternate Reality NBA
The date is April 19, 2021. In my bizarre alternate dimension, it's LeBron James' first playoff game as a Philadelphia 76er.... → Read More
The 14 Scenes That Made 'Game of Thrones' a Massive Hit
How the biggest show on TV got there to begin with. → Read More
How on Earth did Sense8 forget to provide emotional resolution in its finale?
Sense8 is a set of promises. With the premise of the show, it promises certain things: a diverse set of characters and locations, high production values, and sensate communication weirdness. As it’s progressed, it’s made new promises, and largely delivered on them. Wachowski-level action sequences? → Read More
Sense8’s quest for justice sends its characters home, with poignant results
Back when Sense8 premiered, one of its chief marketing points was its locations. It was the story of eight interconnected characters in eight of the world’s great cities: Mumbai, Seoul, London, Chicago, Berlin, Nairobi, the Bay Area, and Mexico City. With the Wachowskis’ typical high production valu → Read More
Sense8 keeps its characters rolling as its mythology falters
There are three kinds of emotional resolutions that Sense8 works toward. The biggest and most successful are the huge interconnected sensate scenes: karaoke, orgies, and parties (oh my!), which we’ll get to at the end of this review. The second plot resolution that Sense8 tends to work toward is its → Read More
Dear BioWare: Stop making open-world games
Dear BioWare: We need to have a talk. You've been doing a really good job of listening to people, as the latest Andromeda patch proves. But instead of minor complaints like "dear god, that face is hideous" or "this character is written poorly," this one's philosophical: BioWare, it's time for you to stop with the open-world experiment. Your games have gotten worse because of it, and there's no… → Read More
Dear BioWare: Stop making open-world games
Dear BioWare: We need to have a talk. You've been doing a really good job of listening to people, as the latest Andromeda patch proves. But instead of minor complaints like "dear god, that face is hideous" or "this character is written poorly," this one's philosophical: BioWare, it's time for you to stop with the open-world experiment. Your games have gotten worse because of it, and there's no… → Read More
How Mass Effect 2 found its style
The story was darker, and the colors were more interesting → Read More
How Mass Effect 2 found its style
The story was darker, and the colors were more interesting → Read More
I love Diablo, but I don’t want Diablo 4
It’s been 20 years since the first Diablo game was released, and the series has done quite well for itself since. But Diablo fans were disappointed by the lack of a Diablo 4 announcement at this year’s BlizzCon. A new character class and a recreation of the original Diablo in Diablo 3 are certainly both welcome, but D3 is nearly five years old. That’s a long wait in video game years. Wanting a… → Read More
The Witcher 3 is a heroic fantasy where you aren't the hero
Meet Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, or Ciri to her friends. She’s a trained witcher, adopted daughter of Geralt of Rivia, heir to the throne of Nilfgaard — the largest empire in the world of The Witcher — and the last known possessor of the Elder Blood. The last of those traits gives the young woman immense power, including the ability to travel between worlds. As Ciri comes of age, she has to… → Read More
The Witcher 3 saved its best trick for last
The quest construction in The Witcher 3 is astonishing → Read More
Killing above your weight class: 26 unexpected assassins
1. Kenard and Omar Little, The WireThe Wire’s Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) earned his status as a fan favorite for his unique mix of competence and bravado, which allowed him to make a very successful living robbing Baltimore’s most dangerous drug dealers. Despite numerous attempts on his life, → Read More
The end is the beginning: 17 characters who found a fresh start in the apocalypse
1. Harold Lauder, The Stand A pompous, awkward, acne-spotted 16-year-old, Harold Lauder is one of the few immune to the superflu that wipes out 98 percent of humanity in Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic masterwork. But while others mourn the dead, Harold revels in the demise of his bullies and naysay → Read More
“Omar(s) comin’!”: 18 hyper-masculine gun-toting gay guys
Gay characters haven’t had a visibility problem in pop culture in many, many years. But when it comes to minority representation, quality is more important than quantity, and there was a time when most gay male characters were portrayed as stereotypically effeminate nellies. If they weren’t obsessiv → Read More
“Confound it!”: 11 pop-culture moments that needed batteries
If there’s one constant every holiday season, it’s that something somewhere is going to need batteries. Maybe it’s that Nintendo 3DS that your nephew was demanding and finally received, or possibly that stupid singing fish on the wall everyone thought it would be so funny to get Grandpa Jerry. (Gran → Read More