Gaming In The Wild - Video Game Reviews

It’s a crazy time of year for game reveals, with over 100 announcements and updates being shown over the last week. So, it seemed like a fun time for a rare midweek episode. Here’s a rundown of ten indie games that particularly caught my eye, and a bit of chat about the biggies like Silksong and Starfield. Watch the Wholesome Direct: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IRgvwWLpbA Watch Day of the Devs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kHHqR3uSq0 Watch the MinnMax coverage of the Xbox/Bethesda showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOYHDhc34eE Music used in this show (all from wonderful games I've covered in the past, please support these artists!): Amos Roddy - In Other Waters: https://amosroddy.bandcamp.com/album/in-other-waters-original-soundtrack Ratvader - The Gunk: https://ratvader.bandcamp.com/album/the-gunk-original-game-soundtrack Disasterpeace - Hyper Light Drifter: https://music.disasterpeace.com/album/hyper-light-drifter Alec Holowka - Night In The Woods: https://infiniteammo.bandcamp.com/album/night-in-the-woods-vol-1-at-the-end-of-everything If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

I’m joined this week by Yuts of Geography of Robots - the developer behind one of 2022’s best indie games, NORCO. We talked about how much of this mesmerising near-future world is based on current day events, local myths, and intertwined histories of Louisiana; about psychogeography, psychedelia, reality and unreality, and much more besides.  Thanks to Yuts for the great conversation. Note: the episode contains spoilers for Norco. If you’re yet to play, I recommend listening to episode 109 - https://anchor.fm/gaminginthewild/episodes/109-NORCO-e1it6cb - for a review of the game, and coming back to this episode later. Follow Geography of Robots on Twitter at @roboticgeo - http://twitter.com/roboticgeo - and play NORCO on PC or Mac, including Game Pass (PC only).  If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

This week’s episode is a roundup that includes some chat about Sony’s State of Play, and especially Stray and Season, as well as a first impression of newly released Card Shark, mini-reviews of The Almost Gone and Behind The Frame, and a look at Super Mario 3D World and the future of Mario. If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

Citizen Sleeper is the featured game this week. It's the second game by Jump Over The Age aka Gareth Damian Martin, and it's a deep, fascinating sci-fi saga set on Erlin's Eye: a crumbling space station on the edge of the galaxy. It's a rare game that fuses a compelling scifi story with clever mechanics, poetic text, and far reaching themes from selfhood and sublimity, to AI ethics, and politics that are both speculative and close to home. My special guest this week is Gianni of Sifter, an Australian podcast network and video games website. Find them at sifter.com.au. Sifter interviewed Gareth Damian Martin about Citizen Sleeper on their Lightmap podcast series - find that episode here: https://www.sifter.com.au/post/citizen-sleeper-is-pure-dystopian-science-fiction-with-a-hopeful-heart. You can also find a GITW interview with Gareth Damian Martin about their excellent first game, In Other Waters, here: https://anchor.fm/gaminginthewild/episodes/41-Interview---In-Other-Waters-Creator-Gareth-Damian-Martin-eptdml/a-a4hn21f If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

NORCO is an intriguing new pixel-art point 'n' click adventure (wait, don't leave, trust me) published by Raw Fury. It tells the story of a strange family mystery occuring in a dystopian near-future Louisiana that's perhaps a little too close to comfort. It's an excellent indie game that wears influences such as Kentucky Route Zero and Disco Elysium on its sleeve, but manages to also be very much its own thing. A video of a Norco refinery that I mention in the show: https://youtu.be/OSYH8lOppsk If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

NieR: Automata is a 2017 sci-fi masterwork by Yoko Taro and Platinum Games that smashes together widescreen anime-style melodrama, elegant killing machines in Harijuku couture, a tangled post-apocalyptic plot, and some lofty existential pondering. It's... a lot. It's a long episode. The Super Bunnyhop analysis of the game mentioned in the show: https://youtu.be/ehM1m5-TG5g. Also mentioned: Norco, NieR: Replicant, Bayonetta, Astral Chain.  If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

This week’s episode is about Trek To Yomi. It’s a cinematic game that’s a tribute to great black and white samurai movies – and might just be a classic in its own right. Also mentioned: Cyberpunk 2077, the Tales Of… series, Norco, In Other Waters, Citizen Sleeper, Stray, Starfield, and more. My guest this episode is Carlos Rodela, co-host of the So Videogames podcast. Find the show wherever you get your podcasts, or at https://gamecritics.com/podcasts. Find Carlos on Twitter at https://twitter.com/onawa and on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@carlosrodela. If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

This week's episode takes a look at a moving single-sitting narrative indie game, 'Before I Forget'. Also mentioned: Norco, Absolute Drift, Cosmic Star Heroine, and the current massive Nintendo Switch eShop sale. If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

This week I'm recording on the road during a trip to the UK, which was the perfect time to dip into the first of Josef Fares' trilogy of co-op games - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons. And it's a great little game that has really stood the test of time as it approaches the tenth anniverssary of its orginal release. (P.S. Sorry if the audio is weird, I tried my best!) If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!

Life Is Strange: True Colours has come to Game Pass, so this seemed like an opportune time to dip into the dreamy small-town world of Haven Springs. Light on gameplay but high on coming-of-age vibes, halcyon Americana and rich, interesting environments, it’s a worthy addition to the LiS series. Also mentioned this episode: Brothers & Jotun. If you enjoy the show, you can come say hi on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch - find the links at http://gaminginthewild.com. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recommendations, and an invite to the show’s Discord community – go to http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild for that. You can also support the show via Ko-Fi if that’s your preferred creator platform: http://ko-fi.com/gaminginthewild. And as always, thanks for listening!