Preserve Review
- Sat, May 31st 2025There’s something about sitting in the middle of a beautiful landscape, playing Preserve, that makes it even more wondrous. I had the opportunity to write this review while sailing up the Fjords and...
Frog Legs Review - Short, Silly, and Surprising
- Thu, May 29th 2025Firstly, let me just say that Frog Legs is silly, short, and fun. It doesn’t take itself seriously, is meant to be completed in one play session, and is less than $3. As such, this review won’t be...
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo Review - Dawn of the Yoyovania
- Wed, May 28th 2025Indie games are often the sources of some of the most innovative ideas out there. A lot of these games also wear their inspiration on their sleeves. It’s impressive when a game can both bring its...
Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade Review
- Wed, May 14th 2025Looking for something new in the roguelite scene, my attention was caught by a handsome tiger warrior in the trailer for Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade, an action RPG with roguelite elements by...
Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos Review (Xbox)
- Mon, May 12th 2025I made it no secret that while I love the first person genre, I’m always on the lookout for games outside of my comfort zone to check out, so when I stumbled across Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos, it did...
Fur and Fables - Early Access Review
- Mon, May 5th 2025Bullet hells aren’t necessarily a unique type of game to see over the past few years, so if you’re gonna develop one now, you’ve got to bring something unique (if not a few things) to the table. Fur...
Cassette Beasts Review: Going Viral in New Wirral
- Wed, Apr 30th 2025Have you ever had a game on your radar that just slipped you by for a while until for whatever reason, you finally cave and give it a try? That was Cassette Beasts for me. My first exposure to...
Seafrog Review
- Mon, Apr 28th 2025Is there anything slicker than a frog? What about a sea frog with a rocket-powered wrench expertly grinding and sliding his way around an overflowing amount of dangerous, varied, and exciting...
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (iOS) Review
- Fri, Apr 25th 2025You’re on the case as the Duck Detective in the debut entry in the cozy and quaint series: The Secret Salami! I’ll be reviewing the iOS mobile app version that just released in April, but the other...
Pilo and the Holobook Review
- Tue, Apr 22nd 2025So there I was standing on the back of a space whale, looking for stickers to put in my book, when all of a sudden some weird tar appeared on the back of the whale! I knew immediately I had to save...
- Written by Tantroo Sonious McNally
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 2948
Lookouts is a visual novel Western adventure where you play as a one armed wolf scout for a notorious gang. The 2022 Ursa Major nominated game is available to play in browser, or pay what you want to download at itch.io. It features art by Coldoggo, music by Jamie, and ParanoidHark composing the story and programming.
The art seems to take inspiration from Northwest Indigenous styling to form simple and effective character silhouettes for use in the story. The form not only lends itself well to the Western format, it makes the artstyle instantly recognizable and stand out from its other visual novel peers.
The story is split into a simple three act structure. As far as gameplay goes, the story is linear with some minigames and very sparse and inconsequential choices to start. It is not until the third act during the final conflict where you will make choices that do have an impact on the resolution. However, I think this makes for a better experience for the player, while keeping the programming and implementation reasonable for a one person team. By keeping the most impactful choices until near the end, you can more readily play the final conflict of the game without having to reread or go through the first two acts just to get to experience the differing outcomes.
The theme of the story is sort of a mixture of Romeo and Juliet with gay cowboys. Your nameable character (Robin by default) is sent out to investigate rumors of gold in a nearby town by your wolf gang. But as it turns out a rival gang of carnivorous birds also has its eyes on the prize, as you find their own scout on the road named Joseph. The story follows the two lookouts as they set out to discover what treasure awaits in the town, and what happens when they find something far more valuable and precious as a result.
I believe many furries will find the story well worth the approximately 5 hour run time. The material does pay homage to its setting, giving the town and characters a sense of history. It makes references to real world elements of the time period it portrays. In that essence, the late Fred Patten would note this is a zipper-back story. However, in spite of it being animal stand-ins for people, the story is charming with elements of romance, conflict, and looking for a place to belong. I’m glad this one got nominated for the Ursa’s and that it got the attention it needed so that people recommended it to play for my channel.
- Written by Joshua Wyld
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 6141
Back in 2009, a man by the name of Dead Dodrill submitted a game to Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play competition. The game won, and was awarded a contract for an Xbox Live Arcade release. Three years later, we finally get our paws on that game; Dust: An Elysian Tail. After spending a good amount of time with the game, I can without a doubt say it was worth the wait. Dust is not only dripping with anthropomorphic influence, it is a charming and enthralling action game that is sure to entertain, furry or not.
- Written by Joshua Wyld
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 3747
Shoot 'em ups, or shmups, for short, are one of my favorite classic styles of gaming. The only problem is that recently, they have been of the 'impossible' type. I'll download a demo, play for a few seconds, and explode. Now, I know there's a ton of people that love that difficulty. It's why the play the game. For those of us who don't have the reflexes of a friggin squirrel, I really appreciate it when game makers make modes for the rest of us. This is what Sine Mora does. It manages to create a nice hill to climb as far as being able to enjoy the game and get better, upping the difficulty at your own pace.
- Written by Joshua Wyld
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 2899
It's been a while since I've written a review, but after playing Bioshock Infinite, I was inspired to get back into the spirit. Also, I want to assure you that this review will hold back from revealing any spoilers, so no worries.
Infinite is the third game in the series, but escapes the confines of Rapture and takes flight in the floating city of Columbia. You play the part of Booker DeWitt, who has been mysteriously transported to this seemingly perfect oasis of civilization in search of a girl. However, things are not always as they seem...
I've played through the first two Bioshock games. The first one was revolutionary, and the world of Rapture pulled me in hook, line, and sinker. Bioshock 2, to me, was more of the gameplay-focused title many games become, but finished with a strong second act. To be honest, I was tempted to dislike the new setting in Infinite because I had fallen so in love with Rapture. I managed to hold back the pessimism though, and went into the world of Columbia with an open mind, hoping that Irrational Games would deliver again. Not to spoil anything, but they definitely did.