Alright, it's been a while but we're back again to cover the PC Gaming Show, the Xbox Showcase and the Ubisoft Forward. After this, that's it, that's all, we're done here. PC Gaming Show The Most Questionable Stuff 3. Road to Vostok (???) Choosing to look down on a game for overt familiarity from the word ‘go’, even if all it has done at this point is have its existence announced to the world, is not inherently an act to be proud of. Much of gaming iterates and builds upon what came before, much of the medium as it stands (for good or ill) exists because someone looked at a past work and were inspired to develop their own take on the material. How many excellent games would cease to be if people decided that “it’s just a clone of X” was a valid argument in itself? I establish this now to make it clear that I do not roll my eyes at Road to Vostok for taking the form of a sparsely-populated shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness area… but rather because it loo
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