cavalcade
Posted in PWB January 2025
Been playing a couple of bits on Game Pass:
Road 96 was recommended by cav. The theme of this is VERY on the nose - teenagers fleeing an oppressive America following a political coup - and I can't help feeling its reappearance on Game Pass a week before Trump's inauguration is far from coincidental. In play it's quite visual novelly - a series of vignettes that you play through without a whole lot of actual interaction - which I wouldn't normally have a problem with, but it's all very cartoony and low budget which rather undermines the seriousness of its themes. The graphics and voice acting are kind of terrible, actually. So I don't know whether to persevere with this, I've done two stories out of six I think and I admire its bravery more than I actually like it.
Wildfrost is a deck-builder that's a bit more complex than Slay the Spire but doesn't have that game's fearsome balance. In particular it overdoes the "roguelike" aspect whereby you unlock new cards and features with successive runs; it's actually very clear that for ages you don't actually have the tools you need, so you're committing to run after run that you know you're going to lose just so you can ultimately unlock something that will help. It's also complex enough that when things inevitably do go to shit, you're not always 100% clear why. It's nice enough, but there are better examples of the genre.
Wildfrost I had a short look at, and while it's impressive for a small team (isn't it one guy?) it's a bit of a dog's breakfast generally.
I think Road 96 creaks left right and centre and looks like it was made on a budget of a fiver and packet of jammie dodgers. But I really like what it's trying to do. As you say, it's brave and bold and shoots for something bigger than the sum of its parts. I really grew to love it by the end, for all its flaws, but I can see why it might not be for everyone. And we've not agreed on any game ever, so there's that too.
Remember your life is short though, so absolutely unlike anyone else here, please try to maximise your life on this planet in the time you have remaining and not waste it playing games you don't 100% enjoy. Live, laugh, love.