This week’s highlights showcase Below, Mutant Year Zero, Hades, Gris, and Ashen — all of which have standout features — with reviews in the round-up,
[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from video game industry ‘watcher’ Simon Carless (GDC, Gamasutra co-runner), rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend. This week’s highlights showcase an oddly busy week — so late in the year — for ‘iii’ (sorry! upscale indie!) releases. I’ve highlighted Below, Mutant Year Zero, Hades, Gris, and Ashen — all of which have standout features — with reviews in the round-up below.
Otherwise, there’s some more ‘best of the year’, some really wonderful YouTube gems such as SoberDwarf’s ‘randomizers’ overview, and some more mainstream coverage of the game industry that isn’t actually negative or Fortnite-focused. (Well, one of them is Fortnite-focused, I guess:P) Until next time…
— Simon, curator.]
—————— The 20 best video games of 2018 (Keza MacDonald / The Guardian — ARTICLE)
«From outlaws in turn-of-the-century America to a young woman falling tenderly in love and Norse gods going to war in spectacular style: our critics pick the best video games of the year.» Gris is like a stunning animated movie that you can play (Andrew Webster / The Verge — ARTICLE)
«Gris opens in a world devoid of color. As a nameless, silent young woman, you traverse the desolate landscape, filled with crumbling ruins and a bleak sky, with an almost balletic sense of movement. You float and glide through the world… Gris starts out simple and stark, but ends as one of the most beautiful games ever made.» Random Randomizers Randomizing Random Things Randomly (SoberDwarf / YouTube — VIDEO)
«Well this is… random? That’s exactly right! Today we’re taking a look at the world of Randomizers! Though what exactly is a Randomizer and what does it have anything to do with game design? And is SoberDwarf trapped in a world where he loses his own identity? Find out in this episode of Design Documentaries! [SIMON’S NOTE: this is specifically about ROM hacks that randomize, and is SUPER interesting.]» The Epic Games Store is the best thing that could happen to Steam (Jessica Conditt / Engadget — ARTICLE)
«This is a fundamental shift for the PC gaming ecosystem, which, for more than a decade, has been dominated by Steam, Valve’s digital distribution hub. «Dominated» doesn’t even cover it — for years, Steam has been the only digital games store for many players, and its power over the PC market remains unparalleled.» Below Is Finally Out, And It’s Not Screwing Around (Ethan Gach / Kotaku — ARTICLE)
«After spending much of that time fumbling through its mysterious world with hardly a clue as to what I should be doing, a new picture has emerged. It’s one of a game whose at times impenetrable mysteries and evocative but dread-filled world don’t seem to suffer from the march of time… [SIMON’S NOTE: too early for Metacritic, but Steam reviews have majority enthused fans, minority people complaining of slow/methodical pace Which is probably intentional from a spooky perspective?]» KeyForge: The red-hot card game where every deck is unique—and unchangeable (Charlie Theel / Ars Technica — ARTICLE)
«As a concept, KeyForge is enthralling.
