Quick Review: Road 96

It’s a dangerous world out there, for teens chasing freedom.

This kid's so young his voice still hasn't cracked, yet he is
already driving and building computers and coding games.

Developed by Digixart, published by THQ Nordic and released on August 16th, 2021, Road 96 is the story of Petria, a country in disarray under the iron-fisted rule of the tyrannical President Tyrak. It’s 1996, most citizens have little choice other than to obey, and rebellious teenagers risk everything to leave the godforsaken country behind. For all these young hitchhikers, it goes through Road 96, a bottleneck point that’s the only trusted way out. Those who get caught fleeing are arrested and sent to “The Iron Pits”, whatever that is… if they’re not outright killed. Just gotta make it through, whichever way possible – bribes, stealth, friends, anything. The Black Brigades, rumored to have played a part in a tragedy ten years prior when Tyrak was elected, and seen as terrorists by the regime and part of the population, could help. Then there’s that upcoming election, with candidate Florres that could rise to power and put an end to all this…

Apparently, there is only one way out of the country.
Nothing South, and no other options anywhere on that border.

Of course, this means that you have to engage with the
scenario put in front of you, and the game will force your hand
 if you don't want to. Wanna get away from the robbers? Nah,
they'll hire you whether you want to or not.

How to describe this one… Imagine a narrative-driven Telltale game à la Walking Dead, with some roguelite randomness built in. You play through your first character’s story, and when their run is over, you are given a choice between three other teens. You’ll never know what to expect… or in which order, really. You interact with the other major characters of the story, and like with Telltale, your answers can influence them one way or another – some answers will cause shifts in those characters, and perhaps even in the wider world. The closer you get to the end (with some of your teens making it through, others not), the more you see the repercussions of your choices.

Why is there a meter rising up about the cab driver's cold
anger? I dunno, how about we ask the soon-to-be-murdered
guy stuffed in the taxicab's trunk?

You’ll encounter one major character in every segment, with each one having several segments dedicated to them (as denoted in the loading screen). You never know who will be the next onemet, or which scene you’ll witness (some scenes can only happen after specific ones have been played). Will you meet the runaway teen that keeps getting herself (and others) in trouble? The well-meaning cop mom who’s unfortunately helping the tyranny? Or her son, a hacking genius? The bumbling thieves? Or the guy who wants to kill the #1 newscaster in the country? Hell, you can run into said newscaster, and she might give you jobs or pick you up as a hitchhiker, even though she’s on board with the tyranny.

No, Officer! I know I look sixteen, but I was born in...
Uh... '42! Promise!

Outside of those where the choice is made for you, after some segments, you have options as to what your next travel method will be: By foot, by taxi, by bus, hitchhiking, stealing a car… I assume that the next scenes you’ll experience are picked based on your choices.

The other element that makes this a roguelite? As a runaway teen, you must manage health and funds carefully. But there are perks!

Me? The worst cameraperson you've seen? Hey, you are
the one who asked me to sub in, lady! I don't even like Tyrak!

-You often lose health due to traveling, but it can be refilled by sleeping, eating, or drinking. Sustenace can be paid for… or dug out of the trash. You’ll often start a chapter with low health, so finding ways to refill it will be necessary.

-Your money will generally be low when you start on a new teenager. Cash is needed for bus/taxi, sometimes for food. Small amounts can be found in hidden spaces. The setting being what it is, you might take on degrading jobs (maybe pro-Tyrak, against your character’s worldview) to have anything to spend. Staying morally upright can only take you so far.

Big John, here, has gien you the gift of life! By which I
mean, the gift of two extra HP for the remainder of the
game. You just had to make, and then drink, a nasty
beverage to obtain them.

-Completing specific segments can net the player new skills, which will stick around for every subsequent chapter. These can involve better odds whenever a luck roll is made, a lockpicking ability, hacking, an easier time dealing with police forces, and a “quick wit” to have the best response in some situations. The sixth skill permanently increases your max health by two points.

Several scenes have their own associated minigame; though there are rarely any significant rewards for victory, they shake up the formula and offer some levity in a game that otherwise doesn’t have much of it. Connect 4? Trombone Hero? Pong? That’s cool.

Yes, Trombone Hero. Eh, why not.

Tension! Action! Horror! This game should be a TV show.
Just need one solid season. One teen per hour-long episode.

The game boasts an excellent soundtrack (there’s even collectibles in the form of tape cassettes that you can play on car radios), and the cel-shaded graphics give it a great style. Your choices can influence some of the details, but there’s only three possible major events that count as endings. And all of them are bittersweet at best, as even the happiest will have at least a few characters dead. Road 96’s colorful look masks its bleak story; there’s always something that goes wrong, or that you can’t make better no matter which dialog option you choose. The most horrible characters have their moments where you may empathize, but never enough to redeem them. The best characters will not always make the best decisions. And those that garner the most sympathy from you might still lose it all in the final stretch. It’s dark, but it’s inevitable considering the subject matter. All to highlight what we all should know, which is that authoritarianism fucking sucks.

But hey, there’s always people out there who need the reminder… Anyway, yeah, very good game here.

Road 96 is available on Steam for 19.99$ USD.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Part 5)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Finishing this today. Bring out the swear jar, I’m gonna need it.

The World That Never Was – Riku (Continued)

Uh oh.

Pretty much every boss in this part of the game has a move
that takes us down to 1 HP. Fuckers.

Riku has found Sora trapped in an energy sphere, sleeping, and being consumed by darkness. Out of Sora’s body forms a cloaked figure with red eyes. This thing, called the Anti Black Coat Nightmare, is a tough boss, and it’s a sign of what I should expect for the rest of the game. We’re almost at the end. That said, my first fight against this guy, and realizing just how difficult it was, encouraged me to go back and train some more. Not a fan of grinding, but I will if I must. I overcame this first challenge, the first of four final bosses.

I hope you haven’t forgotten to level up Riku; it’s only him for all four battles. Who cares about Sora, whom you’ve been playing for literally his own half of the game so far?

How long have these cutscenes been going on? I just want
to mash my Keyblade in his smug face already!

Anti Black Coat disappears, and Riku tries to get through to Sora, the same words heard in the dream. To no avail. Riku hears Terra-Xehanort’s Heartless, Ansem, saying that Sora’s heart belongs to the darkness now. When the villain asks why Riku hasn’t returned to the real world, the teen understands: He’s been in Sora’s dreams the whole time. His shirt bears the mark of a Dream Eater, because he has basically become one. When he saw the hooded figure at the start of the Exam, he subconsciously landed into Sora’s dreams to protect him. Darkness appears under Riku’s feet and he is sucked in.

I watch the playthroughs from other people and realize, if
I was struggling that bad... was it just because I was
underleveled and didn't know? Could be, considering how
often I went back to level-grind between attempts against
all these bosses...

He reappears floating in a void, facing Ansem. The villain tries to get Riku to accept the darkness again, but the teen’s resolve is to fight it and its users. Stage 1 starts in the void, with Riku attacking the boss whenever possible, just waiting on a chance to do a Reality Shift. That move transfers the fight to solid ground, where Dream Eaters can help; Ansem fights using his Guardian, which can shield him from frontal damage (but leaves his back open).

His second phase is worse. Ansem merges with his Guardian, and that’s what we fight. This asshole loves to push you to the far end of the arena, and then load up lasers that hit fast and mini-black holes that you can get sucked into when going in for an attack, leaving you at 1 HP. This guy was, up to that point, the most unpleasant fight I’ve had in that damn game.

Those goddamned lasers. If you aren't already moving fast,
you are getting hit. The only way around is Flowmotion.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Part 4)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

The last few chapters! And we’re starting with the kingdom based on Fantasia!

Symphony of Sorcery – Sora

To think that the "sorcerer" from this short ended up being
one of the most important characters in the entire KH
franchise. That name, though... Yen Sid... Subtle.

Fantasia is a collection of shorts animated over classical music; the way this gets combined into a KH world is by having The Sorcerer’s Apprentice as its core, from which other shorts can be magically accessed. We even get scenes from Mickey’s short remade in 3D! Sora lands in Mickey’s dream of being a great sorcerer manipulating comets; however, he gets kicked out of it by the Spellican, the Nightmare we’ve been chasing. Sora comes out of the dream in Yen Sid’s office… or so it seems. Mickey in the sorcerer’s chair, wearing the sorcerer’s magical hat, and waving around as if casting an endless spell under a trance, says otherwise.

These worlds have dragons now. Or is it T-rexes?

Mickey has been trapped into this predicament by the Spellican. The mouse can only be saved by Sora going into a musical world and picking up a Sound Idea. The place he lands on is based on the short scored with Beethoven’s The Pastoral Symphony. The Reality Shift in these musical worlds triggers a mini-game in which you play along to the music using the touch screen, dragging notes across the screen or tapping them at specific moments.

At this point, enemies are getting annoying. So much of this game is walk forward, beat up a crowd of enemies, repeat. Said enemies have far more HP than before, on top of using more spells and status effects. Nothing quite like being affected by a debuff that prevents special moves right as you’re low on health. Or getting sniped from afar while you’re waiting on said debuff to go away so you can heal.

I can't wait to beat this guy to a pulp. There is just an aura
around this guy, something I know I won't like.

Not much happens on the path to the Sound Idea. However, when Sora reaches it, he encounters the mysterious figure (MF) again. The opponent takes a moment to appreciate the beautiful world they’re in, before adding that he isn’t part of the dreams that are part of the Mark of Mastery. But, that if Sora remains asleep, then their paths will cross soon… After getting the Idea, Sora reappears in the Tower, where his trinket alone isn’t enough to rescue Mickey; but he knows he can trust Riku to do his part. Sure enough, the second Sound Idea appears and undoes the spell. With that achieved, Sora is ready to enter the final cursed spellbook.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Part 3)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Will my headache continue? We’ll find out soon enough!

The Grid – Sora

New armor? But I don't feel any more protected.

It’s still bizarre to me that KH has worlds inspired by live-action properties like Pirates of the Caribbean… or TRON. I’ve always been wondering: Does it or its sequel, TRON: Legacy, count as video game movies? Or just “computing” movies in general? (Either way, don’t count on me to review TRON: Ares!)

Apparently, the "dream" version is the real Grid. Just an
excuse to justify the actors of TRON: Legacy being here
and not met the first time Sora visited Space Paranoids.

Sora appears in the Grid wearing the armor of a Program. He spots a Recognizer (a large ship) and gives chase. The programs that come out ask him to identify himself, but when they don’t recognize his name, they treat him as a threat and attack. After Sora dispatches them, he runs into a masked program that flees after gathering data about the boy and his Keyblade. Three characters were watching this encounter: Kevin Flynn, his son Sam, and friendly program Quorra. All are depicted with far less cartoony CGI than any others, which is… so weird, next to the spiky-haired, anime-faced Sora. But, for true KH fans, this is nothing new.

The three explain that the program Sora was fighting is named Rinzler; but it is actually Tron, who has been corrupted by CLU, Flynn’s hacking program, who has become the Grid’s dictator. Kevin and Sam are trying to escape to the real world, but Sora believes he must save Tron. Kevin indicates that the only way to do so would be to recover Tron’s source code, which is protected by CLU. Quorra decides to help Sora. We won’t see the Flynns again on this side.

Programs CAN develop hearts, but I doubt CLU could.
Not with his intentions. No Keyblade for you, mister!

Meanwhile, Rinzler warns CLU about Sora’s presence; the dictator is intrigued by the Keyblade…

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Part 2)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Three new worlds to explore! We’d better pick wisely.

I’ll be covering each world all at once, because it’s simpler – but with the option of three different worlds to explore, you can indeed have each character explore a different world, and not see both sides of the plot in one world in one go. As an example, you could have Sora visit The Grid while Riku is on Prankster’s Island. But first…

La Cité des Cloches – Sora

Quasi, this elephant isn't friendly!

I can’t wait to see how Kingdom Hearts is gonna dance around anything tangentially related to Christianity in this world inspired by The Hunchback of Notre-Dame! I have a hunch they’ll play safe and not have Frollo be anywhere as creepy. That moment in the film of him sniffing Esmeralda’s hair makes my skin crawl. As it should!

I didn't know the Feast of Fools involved rhinos!

Sora meets Judge Claude Frollo, who immediately believes the boy to be a “g---y” due to his odd clothing for the area. I know this word has become a slur in recent times, hence the censoring – I’m hinting to it this one time because the word is important to the story of Hunchback, but I’ll avoid it from this point on. Before Frollo can attempt to inflict justice, he is informed by Phoebus that monsters have invaded the square. Sora rushes there to find Quasimodo on the back of a Nightmare elephant, celebrating as if he had been crowned King of the Feast of Fools. Here? Without a crowd? Huh. Esmeralda comes to help Quasi and they flee into the cathedral while Sora deals with the monsters.

Oh, there’s something about Frollo being consumed by his own rage and racism, and getting covered by an aura of darkness, too.

Geez, they've even infiltrated the cathedral!

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Part 1)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

For the record, I have been working on this review for a month and a half, so it is entirely coincidental that I am publishing this on the exact week where the proper teaser trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV was released. Hey, timing did its thing again!

It's funny how quickly you get accustomed to the mix of
American animated animal characters with humans that
have a clear anime feel to their designs.

You’ve seen that title, so you know what’s coming. If there’s one thing the Kingdom Hearts franchise is known for, it is its interconnected story told over… oh, with the number of remakes and new games retelling events of past games, I’ve sincerely lost count. This story is harder to untangle than a Gordian knot. Especially if you haven’t been following the franchise closely, or missed an episode or five, which is bound to happen due to its entries being scattered across several consoles! And they’re usually action RPGs, so they tend to be story-heavy.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, developed and published by Square Enix, was released for the Nintendo 3DS on July 31st, 2012 in North America. Before this one, the only other KH game I’ve played (and reviewed) is Re:coded on the Nintendo DS. Well, I was glad to see that today’s game is a direct continuation of that one! It is also, according to sources, the last game in the chronology before KH III. Thus, it ties up a few loose ends in preparation. Then again, I’d bet that KH3D creates more unanswered questions on its own; that’s how it goes.

Again: I’m jumping in with very little frame of reference. Everything I know is from Re:coded, and the biggest plot point that game showed was that even non-living entities, like characters made of code, were still capable of becoming real Keyblade wielders, all it took was displaying heart and heroism. That game on the Nintendo DS also went over some of the events of the first Kingdom Hearts game, which helps but still leaves me with large gaps in knowledge. Bear with me, especially if you’re far better acquainted with this franchise than I am.

The Exam

Full disclaimer: Since you might not want low-quality images
for the cutscenes (and there are many of those), I will be
picking these off a playthrough of the 2.8 Final Chapter
Prologue version of the game. Big thanks to
SevuhnElevuhn for the longplay video. Check it out here!

The first scene takes place at a villainous lair, ten years prior. Some guy (named… Braid, I think?) is asking the POV character, whom he calls Xehanort, whether he recovered his memories, or never ever lost them. The POV character summons a dark blade, stabs Braid with it, and says his name is Ansem.

I don't even know if that will make sense after playing this game. For the record, Ansem here is Terra-Xehanort, which is Xehanort, possessing the body of a guy named Terra. This is the first minute and I already had to explain some lore, for Pete’s sake!

Needlejuice Records: Other Album Recommendations

NEEDLEJUICE RECORDS

Mystery Boxes: 2022 – 2023 (Part 1) – 2023 (Part 2)

NBW Special

Other album recommendations

I figured I’d do this one real quick, because I mostly talked about one band last Friday, and figured I’d expand a bit. One thing I noticed that was missing from my previous Needlejuice articles was a quick mention of other albums I recommend for each band and/or artist I discuss. There’s a lot of artists signed onto the label, and though many of them have multiple albums on it, they also frequently have albums that aren’t on there.

I figured I’d give many of them a little bit of extra visibility by listing the albums I, personally, enjoyed the most and felt like adding to my own collection. Not every band discussed across these past articles is listed here; I already covered everything I’ve got from Nuclear Bubble Wrap, and some bands haven’t wowed me to the point of getting more. I might also discuss in a later article some albums listed below that are indeed available on the label, so this list is bound to be modified over time. The albums for each band/artist are listed chronologically.

So, to make this quick, and in the order that I’ve talked about them: The list!

Eldren: Welcome to Deathville

Blinker the Star: Still in Rome, Songs from Laniakea Beach, Love Oblast, Animal Math, Occult Classic

Ookla the Mok: oh okay LA, vs. Evil

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: *takes a deep breath* Float Along – Fill Your Lungs, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, Nonagon Infinity, Polygondwanaland, Gumboot Soup, Infest the Rats’ Nest, Live in San Francisco '16, K.G., L.W., Omnium Gatherum, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation, The Silver Cord, Flight b741 *phew!*

Nick Lutsko: Ends

Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears: The Shredding Tears, Mad Valentines, Daffy’s Elixir, (and a side-project) Evil Arrows EP 1 & EP 3

Marc with a C: Popular Music, Flowers for Analog, (and a side-project) Have an Okay Time with Claire and the Potatoes!

Not necessarily a big list, but one I felt was worth sharing anyway.

Needlejuice Records: A Nuclear Bubble Wrap Special

NEEDLEJUICE RECORDS

Mystery Boxes: 2022 – 2023 (Part 1) – 2023 (Part 2)

NBW Special

Other album recommendations

I’m hard at work on the next articles, since I have huge plans for VGFlicks this time around. Plus, I didn’t get a mystery box of music last year, so I figured I’d just go through fewer albums this year.

I’ve done this intro each year since 2024 now: Needlejuice Records is an indie label from Nashville, Tennessee, that I greatly enjoy. I started off knowing just one band from their lineup, then expanded thanks to mystery boxes, and now I’m going as far as to try and at least hear everything their artists have put out. Some bands I’ve discovered this way are now big favorites of mine. Are you into indie rock? Maybe metal? Prog? Techno? Punk? Vaporwave/slushwave? Comedy music? Damn near every genre’s covered in some fashion. The label is very LGBTQ+-friendly, and has both a Bandcamp page and a website. (And a Discord server, too, accessible from Bandcamp.)

This time, I’ll do things differently by focusing on a specific band. This journey of mine began with one musical act: Nuclear Bubble Wrap (shortened NBW), whom I discovered around 2010. Crazy to think that’s been 15 years. Songs from the band were posted to a forum dedicated to “Weird Al” Yankovic by the band’s frontperson (and one of its singers), Jace McLain, which is how I first discovered them. McLain, one of the founders of Needlejuice Records, still puts out music both with this band and as a part of a few side-projects.

I did buy some physical albums from the label in 2024, including an anniversary box set of NBW’s fourth album, Exploding Head Syndrome (shortened EHS), packed with three additional CDs – so instead of bogging down a whole list of 10 albums with constant repetition, I figured I’d just dedicate an article to covering all four discs. Along with the other album of theirs I’ve got that I haven’t covered yet. And maybe throw in another album that felt like foreshadowing towards the existence of the label.

Once again, I rank from my favorite to the least favorite, starting with…

Psycho Delicacy

This was the first NBW, non-EP album to be made up entirely of original songs (zero parodies) that all have either a comedic or psychedelic edge. Sometimes both. At a sprawling 72 minutes and 21 songs, Psycho Delicacy, released on May 13th, 2014, is NBW’s longest official album, funded through Kickstarter. I backed it; along with the physical CD, my reward included a bonus disc containing demos from their next album, Multiverses, and other random songs.

Quick Review: Riff Racer

One more entry in the Game Eulogies, this is turning into a yearly thing here. Okay, this one isn’t dead, but it might as well be.

Oh yeah - my copy defaults to French. Oh well!

Created by FOAM Entertainment and released on May 12th, 2016, Riff Racer is no longer available for purchase on Steam. Its concept, and the reason people loved it so much, was that it was like a more advanced version of Audiosurf. In both games, there are songs available from the get-go, and you could race on those for a high score, toggling difficulty to your liking. However, the big draw was that both games allowed you to upload your own music tracks, after which the game would procedurally create a stage based on your settings, with the song as basis and background.

I will give the game that; it looked really damn cool.

No no no!! I'm tailspinning! I'm going sideways!
Ironically, none of this, not even falling off the track,
is much of a step back.

Both games allowed; past tense. Audiosurf still does it, because it generates the game track client-side. Riff Racer used to do it server-side. As in, the server in FOAM Entertainment’s studios. Which means that, now that the game has been delisted and the servers shut down, well… you’re left with the inability to pick a track from your collection and turn it into a custom level. Unfortunately, that specific feature was the entire selling point FOAM Entertainment was counting on. Makes complete sense that they’d no longer sell the game, then – with that feature gone, what's the point. (A few games I’ve done Eulogies for should take notes and delist too. Damn things can still be bought even when they literally don’t work anymore.)

Excuse me while I stare at my collection of 3,000 songs that
will never be used here...

And, if you've been reading this blog for a while, then you know that I’m a big fan of music in general, I listen to a lot of stuff. And for years I would amass music, because I wanted it of course, but there was frequently that tiny voice at the back of my mind, “hey, when the time rolls around to review Riff Racer, I’ll have all those songs to try out, it’s gonna make for fun gameplay recording sessions, right?” Well, I got around to it too late then, didn’t I.

Which isn’t to say that fans of the game haven’t found some way to make it work, creating their own servers and giving detailed instructions to let anyone connect their copy of Riff Racer to those custom servers. Which, for some reason, makes track generation possible again. Although I commend the effort and ingenuity, I don’t think I’d feel enough interest going through that just to play on some tracks. I just don’t have the attachment to this one that others may have had. And I was too late to cultivate such an attachment, too.

You have a couple of carsd to choose from, and you could
earn in-game money to spend on... uh, stuff, I guess.
Doesn't really matter much anymore, does it.

Yeah, there’s no way I’m gonna play 20 hours of that one. I doubt there’s much point in telling you to buy it, but yeah – if you own it and haven’t touched it, and have no plans of touching it, you’re not missing out. Go back to Audiosurf (1 or 2) instead.

Quick Review: The Inner World

An odd duo taking down a dictator!

The first screen of many. How can we get to that darn bird?
Maybe the shady guy in a trench coat has a solution.

Developed by Studio Fizbin, published by Headup and released on September 27th, 2013, The Inner World is a hand-drawn point & click game. Asposia exists within a planet rather than outside, and gets its air from large wind tunnels guarded by monks. All Asposians have pointy, striped noses, except Robert, whose nose instead has holes, allowing him to play it like a flute. He works as a disciple under Conroy, the only wind monk whose tunnel still works; Conroy elevated himself to spiritual leader of Asposia due to this. Worse even, large flying monsters called the Basilians often pop out of the tunnels, turning Asposians to stone with their stares. The story kicks off when a pigeon flies into Conroy’s home and steals a pendant, and Robert falls down the garbage chute chasing it, landing into Asposia's streets. He meets Laura, a sarcastic Asposian with plans of her own. Robert will learn that in this world, very little is as it seems…

Still not sure (yet) why the barmaid gave us a beverage that
feels like it could be more of a pipe degreaser than a drink.

I can use this funnel as a helmet now! And I should also
take back my doll from that creature.

Most of this point & click's gameplay goes through the mouse, selecting elements on the screen to observe or (try to) take them. Holding down the left button reveals  dots over every décor element that can be interacted with. You can combine items in your inventory, accessible at the bottom of the screen (ex. Putting together a reed and a hook to grab something from afar). You can also take combinations apart when their pieces are useful again later. Only a few items are carried between chapters, most notably a Conroy doll that gets destroyed over time (deservedly).

I saved this little mouse! It just took me putting three items
together! Now, little guy, you're going into an ear horn.

I could clean this shield... but only if the shield, and the rust
itself, are useful elsewhere afterwards!

You usually play as Robert, aside from one section where he is captured, and we play as Laura instead. The only difference is that Laura is snarkier (compared to the sheltered, naïve, sweet Robert), and she doesn’t have the flute nose, which you play to solve a few puzzles, through an option in the inventory. The flute nose has its own “mode”, a single mini-game accessible from the main menu. (Good luck getting a decent score on it.)

Flute-Nose Hero

Please ignore the openly propagandist messsaging of the 
"play" that Robert manipulates to find an open passage...

This game has the classics of a point & click: Puzzles with solutions that make marginal sense, even if you figure them out by yourself. A cast of silly characters with their own stories, and all sorts of shenanigans to inflict on them. Detailed scenes and backgrounds; if an area keeps being available once you’ve done everything, then you’ll have to go back for something else later. Just gotta figure out what. There’s even a hint system for players who get stuck, though there are achievements to unlock if you can play through the whole thing without them.

My favorite moment: Repeating to a sin confession machine
a sin heard from someone else, and it's so outrageous that
it instantly breaks the machine. Fuck, that was hilarious.

The story is rich and interesting, with tons of worldbuilding to find (and some puzzles hinge on utilizing knowledge gathered during the story). The tone is humorous, with some edge to be found in several gags; some of them get saucy, implications-wise. Our main characters form a fun team, and it’s great to see their relationship develop as they unearth their world's greatest secrets. Cutscenes and many puzzle solutions are fully animated.

The only true negative I have about this game is that, during a few sessions it tended to “break” in ways that forced a restart, during the pause menu or after combining items, with one specific instance being a total crash forcing a game restart.  But with that aside, all in all, good stuff, really.

The Inner World is available on Steam at a big discount till tomorrow at 1.49$ USD, usually 14.99$.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition

Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series is one most people know of, though not everyone may know about its finer details. It’s fair to call it a franchise, too; six graphic novels originally released from 2004 to 2010, an animated short, a movie (which I reviewed), and an anime series released on Netflix (which I haven’t seen). It’s got enough of a following to get revived every couple years in some way, shape or form. Every iteration tells the story in a slightly different manner.

Alongside the movie came an associated beat’em-up video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released to the PlayStation Network on August 10th, 2010 in North America and the next day in PAL regions, then to Xbox Live Arcade two weeks later. While the game is well-known, its claim to fame – or, should I say, to infamy – was its delisting from both digital platforms on December 30th, 2014 due to the license expiring at Universal. Thus, despite its association to a popular franchise, the beat’em-up could not be played at all, and would remain in that state for several years.

…until time came to celebrate the movie’s tenth anniversary in 2020, and efforts were made from both O’Malley and the film’s director Edgar Wright to rescue the game from purgatory, while we’re at it. Talks with Ubisoft led to interest, and so in September that year Ubisoft announced a remaster for release to several more digital platforms (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One and Stadia – lol, that last one is dead already). Even better, a deal was made with Limited Run Games, which specializes in creating and distributing physical formats of games, usually indie and/or only available digitally. The remaster, both on digital and physical formats, was released in January 2021.

I found the Nintendo Switch physical edition at a convention and practically threw my cash at the seller. I knew of this game’s tumultuous history, and I wanted to own a copy. Alongside the cartridge came a free shiny trading card, an alternate box art, an old-school SNES-style instruction booklet small enough to fit in the box, and a “concert ticket” for The Clash at Demonhead with opening act Sex Bob-Omb at Leo’s Place. Feelies, we have feelies, there’s something so nice about those.

Now that this is all out of the way, I can talk about the game!

Brawl Across Toronto

"Hey, are you a 1-Up? 'cause you give me a new life."
Note: Playthroughs I'using for screenshots can be seen
here, here and here.