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Brendan Hesse

@brendanlh.bsky.social

2.6K followers 1.3K following 3.2K posts

Associate Editor at GameSpot | DRPG Sicko at The Crawl: http://youtube.com/thecrawl | Other bylines: Lost In Cult, Lifehacker, PopSci, EGM, IGN, Digital Trends | My games: http://the-crawl.itch.io | He/Him (PFP: @alzandah.bsky.social)

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · Aug 29

New video: THE 7 LEVELS OF DUNGEON CRAWLERS

Decided to try my hand at a YouTube trend for once. It’s a very unserious categorization, but I had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

And if you’re at PAX, find me and tell me your favorite Hotdogs!

youtu.be/52rUw9oL890?...

The 7 Levels of Dungeon Crawlers

YouTube video by The Crawl

youtu.be

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Reposted by Brendan Hesse

JRT GRN @jarrettjawn.bsky.social · 3d

If you like the work LIFEBAR is doing, please consider supporting with a donation the Ko-Fi!

This situationship I have with publishing good writing from talented friends and colleagues is fun, and also expensive! Any little bit will help secure the future of the operation!

🔗

Support LIFEBAR

ko-fi.com

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 3d

You know who else takes video games and sports seriously?

Hiroyuki Ito. And now we have the ATB system because of it.

So imo you're in the right.

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 3d

Probably not. The tl;dr is he fronted a popular (imo overrated) metal band in the mid-2000s, then went to prison for hiring a hit on his then-wife (among other things).

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 3d

Genuinely shocked to learn that Tim Lambesis is a) still appearing in public and b) writing and releasing new music.

I am of the opinion that neither of those things should be happening.

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 3d

I'm not sure I entirely follow your point, but this is mostly just a shitpost

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

I think I'm realizing that's where I am too

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

That's probably exactly the voice it should be read in

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

don't worry--I, too, am annoyed by me

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

you rarely see buddhist brendan in public, but when you do, it's always bc of games media discourse

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

"It's not for me," but maybe the person it is for is the person you will be tomorrow.

"No person ever plays the same game twice, for it is not the same game and they are not the same person."

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

oh no

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

oh no this is about my post just now isn't it

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

Perhaps... This post will hopefully be enough to exorcise the Thought demons for now, but they'll return one day...

Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

(I wrote out a MUCH longer string of posts about this that have been haunting my mind the last 24hrs, but chose to spare you all lol.)

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

ok I haven't stopped thinking about the "it is/is not for me" thing for the last day, and I've now come around to thinking that it's maybe a nice way to acknowledge the emptiness of experience and inescapable subjectivity of being.

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 4d

the short answer is: he wasn't supposed to openly say that trump has plenary authority and realized in the moment and clammed up

Reposted by Brendan Hesse

Aidan Moher @aidanmoher.com · 5d

I had some work-in-progress with Sam and Bitmap, but in response to this reversal, I’ve informed them I’m putting that on pause until they arrive at a more equitable solution.

Bitmap Books @bitmapbooks.com · 5d

Monday 6th October 2025

Dear supporters of Bitmap Books,

Although I stand by the fact that Moses’ comments were ill-advised and insensitive, the whole thing blew up and was made much bigger than it needed to be. Moses has publicly apologised for any offence caused, as has the original poster of the comments who did not intend to cause this much trouble. I do not feel that this warrants an author losing his livelihood and ruining years of hard work to produce the book.

Despite multiple accusations to the contrary, Moses freely agreed to donate his royalties to charity. There was no coercion from me, however we both recognise that due to an increasingly stressful situation that decisions were rushed on both sides. I’m pleased to say that Moses and I have spoken again today, we stand together, and have agreed that he will receive 100% of his royalties.

Maybe I was hasty in my response, and I’m happy to admit to that. At the time I sincerely thought I was doing the right thing to diffuse an increasingly difficult situation. I will commit to donating all company profits from this first print run to the charity, Special Effect.

The bottom line is that is that Moses has apologised for his original comments, and will now be paid the royalties that are rightfully his.

Moses and myself have received a large amount of personal abuse and threats over the past few days. We hope that this statement will bring some closure to what has happened.

Sam Dyer, founder of Bitmap Books

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Reposted by Brendan Hesse

Tamoor Hussain @tamoorh.com · 4d

This week I’m going to raise money for @medicalaidpal.bsky.social to help Palestinians in need.

On Fri I'll start & finish Metal Gear Solid, MGS2 on Sat, Delta on Sun. It'll be 9 AM PT each day on www.twitch.tv/tamoorh.

Fundraiser is live on my Twitch. Please share if you can!

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Reposted by Brendan Hesse

Chris Franklin @errant-signal.com · 5d

Re: Critical discourse du jour: I'm torn, because on one hand I think having strong personal taste (and being able to defend it eloquently) is core to being a critic, but on the other I think you need to be able to approach games on their own terms is also supremely important for critics.

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 5d

It's been almost a week and a half of it. www.reddit.com/r/Portland/c...

From the Portland community on Reddit: Noisy Black Hawks circling night #2

Explore this post and more from the Portland community

www.reddit.com

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 5d

Yup. I can't tell if it's multiple, or just one, but yes. It comes roughly from where the Army Reserve camp is SE of us in Clackamas, and towards the smaller Hillsboro airport (rather than the Air Force base, which is further north next to the PDX airport). The website even has a PSA pop-up about it

Increased Aircraft Activity in South and Southwest Portland
We are aware of the higher volume of helicopter and propeller airplane activity over South and Southwest Portland. This appears to be related to federal law enforcement and/or military activity and is not a development the Port of Portland can control.

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 5d

Where I live in PDX is right under the flight path of the Sikorsky UH-60s they've got "patrolling" the sky the last couple days. It's so weird lol.

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Reposted by Brendan Hesse

Jordan Starkweather✨ @jackal27.bsky.social · 5d

HELL YEAHHHHHHHHH

I’ve been playtesting House of Necrosis for a year+ and it RULES!! @warkus.bsky.social absolutely killed it on the final build! If you love Resident Evil and/or the Mystery Dungeon series, RUN DON’T WALK!!

Warkus @warkus.bsky.social · 5d

House of Necrosis is OUT NOW on Steam!

House of Necrosis features turnbased dungeon-crawling as well as a tank-controlled hubworld, complete with pre-rendered backgrounds! This is SURVIVAL HORROR MYSTERY DUNGEON

💀Buy the game now, 10% launch discount!💀

store.steampowered.com/app/2005870/...

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Brendan Hesse @brendanlh.bsky.social · 5d

but u are a good critic, tho