In the ashes of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, amid the bloat and pretense of the games industry, always must there be a presentation... always must there be game trailers... and always must there be those who commentate. So it is that we find ourselves in the aftermath of this year's collected summer showcases, a cavalcade of announcements and information to parse in its wake. For my part, I set forth to note the games that stood out among the pack. Today, we go over the high points of the Future Games Show , the Xbox Games Showcase , the PC Gaming Show and, yes , even the Ubisoft Forward . Heaven help us all... Future Games Show The High Point: Duck Detective: The Secret Salami The premise of “riffing on the hardboiled detective story with talking cartoon animals” would be a fine selling point for a game in itself. The choice to also lean into a sticker book aesthetic, complete with characters hobbling around as barely moving objects in a scene? Now that's a fun time ...
Still have some newer writing in the works, but for now enjoy this trip down memory lane with another review from the archives. This time: the delightful throwback platformer about a cartoon squid... Developed by Alex Barrett & Samantha Davenport (Squidlit Ink. LLC) Released on March 2nd, 2018 Version Played: Windows PC (also available for Nintendo Switch) So I’m a fairly easy lay for the mascot platformer – partially of because the child-like whimsy it evokes in me, partially because these tend to be rather interesting games on multiple levels. Mechanically there’s various divergences that have come about in the post-Super Mario Bros space, from exploration-centric “Metroidvania” games to those works which toy with more specific gimmicks (like Sonic the Hedgehog’s speed or Sparkster’s rocket pack). And then there’s the variation in aesthetics, sound design, graphical detail, presence of an overarching narrative or themes… in short there's a lot to love there. But they also ...