Aiden Bryson is a Junior at Basis Peoria who writes about nerdy gunk to his heart's content. A real wildcard, you can expect a rant and a half on nothingness in one article, while finding a beautiful soliloquy on the nature of friendship and Monkey D. Luffy in another. Hope you enjoy!
ENTERTAINMENT

Enter the Gungeon – “Kill your past; you’ve already damned your future”

In life, we are told to forget and forgive. “Don’t hold onto grudges, you’ll never be able to change the past,” or even “Revenge is only for villains.” Some even take a moral stance, arguing that “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Enter the Gungeon challenges that notion. Not only is […]

Credit: The Pokémon Company/Gamefreak, Nintendo
ENTERTAINMENT

How Urshifu Ruins Competitive Pokémon

Competitive Pokémon has been a long-standing trend in the franchise, having started all the way back in August of 2009. Each year, various tournaments are held from Japan to the U.S., all ranging in size and caliber. As the tournament season starts, new “metas” and strategies develop where Pokémon trainers can more effectively win battles. […]

ENTERTAINMENT

Pokemon Legends: Arceus

I’ve already spoken on Pokemon, having previously talked about the newest installments in the franchise, Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet. These games showed us glimpses of the past and future, with Pokemon Scarlet specifically granting us ancient, prehistoric versions of modern-day favorites. However, these glimpses were just that – glimpses – and while this did […]

Student Happenings

Cheri Oz: SAC Visit

This past month, the Youth Policy Assembly (YPA) had a special guest come in and teach them about policymaking and politics in the federal domain. The guest, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Cheri Oz, is a member of the DEA and was happy to speak on drugs and the legislation used to deal with them. […]

ENTERTAINMENT

The Barbie Movie: Showing the Other Side

Ken has always been the Yin to Barbie’s Yang, standing beside her at every press conference, rocket launch, and presidential address. However, this status quo was recently flipped in 2023’s “Barbie” movie, in which we saw a much more complex and less two-dimensional side of Ken. In the movie, we are shown “Barbieland,” a (very) […]

FEATURES OPINIONS

Pikmin 4

The Pikmin franchise, first started by Nintendo in 2001, follows a group of intrepid adventurers from the planets Hocotate and Koppai, journeying in the hopes of finding not just treasure, but food for their dying planets. These travelers find a strange planet known as PNF-404, which bears a heavy resemblance to Earth and reveals a […]

Let em cook
NEWS

Let them cook! – Turning up the heat!

As the election season is coming to a close, the YPA (Youth Policy Assembly) interviewed even more of our potential candidates for STUCO (Student Council). Among these were three titans of the polls, Maeda, Avni and Rehan, all of whom were running for different positions – 11th Grade Representative, President and Vice, respectively. In this […]

Cook Up Image
NEWS

Let them cook! The race for student council is on!

Recently, the YPA (Youth Policy Assembly), interviewed some of our potential candidates for STUCO (Student Council). Among these were three men, Aryan, Yuvan and Rejul, all of whom were running for different positions – 11th Grade Representative, President and Vice, respectively. In this interview, these three spoke on the key ideals surrounding their candidacy as […]

ENTERTAINMENT OPINIONS

CookieRun: Kingdom: A Korean Gacha Game That Will Capture Your Heart (And Maybe Your Wallet…)

Intro CookieRun: Kingdom is, suffice to say, an odd game. Not just this, but all its developer’s (Devsisters’s) prequel games and spinoffs – CookieRun: Ovenbreak, JellyPop, Infinity, and CookieWars – share this same oddness. Now, fundamentally, these games center around one thing – living gingerbread cookies with big personalities taking on huge goals. These cookies […]

ENTERTAINMENT OPINIONS

Slime Rancher 2: The Goopy, Gunking, and Slippy Sequel That Never Disapppoints!

Slime Rancher has pretty much everything you could ever want in a game – the slimes, the ranching – and Slime Rancher 2 is no different. It beautifully fills the shoes of its award-winning predecessor, and it keeps the game fun and lively without forgetting what made the game so good in the first place. […]

NEWS

“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”; It Looks Amazing

**Warning: this article contains semi-heavy spoilers for The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and only trailer-sourced spoilers for The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Read at your own discretion.**   Zelda has been an amazing game series ever since its first release in 1987 with “The Legend of Zelda”  (or  “The […]

ENTERTAINMENT OP-EDS OPINIONS

Pokémon Scarlet/Violet: Review from a True Gamer

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet – this amazing duo is the newest installment in Nintendo’s long-running franchise of beast-catching, bond-forming, berry-finding games. Pokémon has had a history of A-Tier games, with quality and creativity to match. From the worldbuilding to the Pokémon themselves, the games get increasingly more sophisticated with every chapter. Scarlet and Violet are […]

ENTERTAINMENT OPINIONS

One Piece – A Review From a Man Just a Few Episodes In

Assuming you don’t live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of One Piece, whether you’re big into pop culture or not – that old anime, the one with 1000+ episodes. What you probably don’t know, however, is just what this show has to offer – not just your typical, goofy shonen (fighting anime) about overcoming […]

ENTERTAINMENT FEATURES

SCPs – A Comprehensive Guide to the Foundation

The SCP Foundation, standing for “Secure.Contain.Protect,” is a foundation dedicated to hiding that which lives in the dark so that society can live in the light. It designates the entities they find as “SCP’s” giving them designations like “SCP-682,” or “SCP-23.” These SCP’s can range from lego bricks that move on their own to rapidly-evolving […]

OPINIONS

The Battle Cats: Game Review

Ah, yes, the battle cats. A little mobile game with a big personality. From the cats to the battles (and, you know, a little more). Whether you’ve been a veteran for years or are just playing the game for the first time, this game is easy to pick up and play anywhere, anytime. I’ve roped […]

OPINIONS

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance: Review

Recently, while scrolling through youtube and reddit, I saw a lot of memes focused around a particular 10 year old game that I’d never played before: “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.”  Quite frankly, it intrigued me. The gameplay looked fun, the graphics looked nice, and the memes, even without having played the game, were still funny. […]

Photo Credit: Nicalis
OP-EDS OPINIONS

The Binding Of Isaac: Repentance – Game Review

This year, I played a game that I’ve been putting off for a while. It’s an amazing game that I’ve been playing nonstop. The game in question is “The Binding Of Isaac: Repentance.” This game is incredibly comprehensive and so unbelievably fun to play that I just can’t get over it; I’m constantly playing it […]

ENTERTAINMENT

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Bingeable, Rarely Cringeable

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a beautifully animated, drawn, and written epic about the Joestar family and the perils they go through written and drawn by Hirohiko Araki. The story tells the story of each JoJo, continuously moving down in generations as the further the story moves along.  We begin with Jonathan Joestar, an honest and […]