Gaming In The Wild - Video Game Reviews

This is it – welcome to the Gaming In The Wild GOTY final cut episode! In this show, I talk through my personal favourite games of 2022, from indie darlings, to AAA blockbusters, and maybe a couple of hidden gems too. This was a fantastic year in gaming, and I hope y'all enjoy the final list! There's lots more GOTY content available too, so be sure to check out the guest episodes that went...

The third GOTY 2022 guest episode this year is a lovely, long, far-ranging chat with Brad Gallaway, friend of the show and co-host of the So Videogames podcast. We discussed some obscure gems and heavy hitters, including Marvel Snap, Atari 50, Elden Ring, Citzen Sleeper, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks Of Hope, Horizon Forbidden West, Paradise Marsh, and many more! Hear my 2021 GOTY chat with Brad here: h...

It's time for the second episode in the 2022 games of the year series, this time with Louis Brooks, co-host of the excellent Time Played 3hr. Louis brought some super interesting games to the table, including Tunic, Sephonie, Strange Horticulture, Dyling Light 2, Gran Turismo 7, and more. A note: I completely borked by own side of the audio, so very sorry for my sound quality! Find out more ab...

This Christmas Eve episode features Bryan Skursha of the wonderful Pixelated Playgrounds podcast, who hopped on to talk about his games of the year in 2022. We discussed Triangle Strategy, Stray, Pokémon Legends Arceus, POINPY, God of War: Ragnarök, Elden Ring, Citizen Sleeper, Tunic, and more.  Hear more of Bryan on Pixelated Playgrounds, via your podcast service of choice, or here: https://www.p...

FAR: Changing Tides is a welcome sequel to a minor indie classic in which the player pilots a huge, hulking vehicle through a ravaged post-climate-change world. The sense of scale and motion can feel nothing short of miraculous, but the puzzles don’t always make for plain sailing. In the roundup: High On Life, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, and Sword Ship. We also kick of GOTY season by revealing th...

This episode reviews a trio of interesting indie games before GOTY season gets into full swing – fast and fluid wholesome oceanbound adventure Wavetale, brooding sci-fi story Signalis, and Portal-like puzzler The Entropy Centre. I also chat about the events of The Game Awards 2022, the big announcements, including Hades 2, and the two PS5 demos that came out – Forspoken, and Season: A Letter To Th...

God of War Ragnarok is the extravagantly produced continuation of GoW 2018’s melancholy, cinematic and spectacular father-son story. It trades 2018’s intimate cast, tight focus and emotional heft for a somwhat loose and meandering MCU-influenced romp through Norse mythology. Also this episode: Citizen Sleeper’s Flux and Refuge DLC, a preview of slick seafaring action-adventure Wavetale, and a look...

Vampire Survivors is a strikingly simple and startlingly addictive arcade-style game that coined a whole new genre overnight. It's a casual shoot 'em up that sees you carving your way through an ocean of pixel enemies that overwhelm the screen in a mesmerising cacophony of destruction. In the roundup: Norco, The Witcher 3, Togges, Pentiment, God of War: Ragnarök. The NME interview I mentio...

This week's reviews are of Somerville, a new Game Pass game by one half of the Playdead studio, and Foretales, a story-focused card game with meaningful choices and branching paths. In the roundup: The Game Awards nominations, The Entropy Centre, God of War: Ragnarök. This is a patron supported show! Join the gang on Discord by becoming a member at http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild. Follow th...

As God of War Ragnarök releases, it's time for a deep dive into the 2018 series reboot. It's a father-son story set in a mythic Viking world of truly epic scope and scale, mixing singularly spectacular battles with exploration, dungeons, and RPG progression. The somewhat scripted gameplay drags at times, but overall, it's a god-tier game from SIE. In the roundup: Ghost Song, The Entrop...

Rollerdrome is a stylish death-on-skates survival-sport shooter that shines through its slick movement and satisfying gunplay, but is let down by didactic progression and bruising difficulty. Also in this episode: a look at some November releases, including Ghost Song, Floodland, Pentiment, Somerville, and the latest Playstation blockbuster – God of War: Ragnarok. In the roundup: Darkest Dungeon o...

Roadwarden is a quite brilliant indie game about a 40-day journey in which you and your humble steed explore the wild northern peninsula of a high-fantasy realm. With meaningful choices, branching paths, plural solutions, and leeway to roleplay as you wish, it's addictive, absorbing, and inspired. In the spooky-game roundup: Scorn, Little Nightmares, ECHO, and Dead Space. And a big thank you t...

Paradise Marsh is a pleasant, thoughtful, swampy indie game with a glorious pixel-polygon art style and a glowing soundtrack by Disasterpeace. Catch frogs, chase bugs, eat mushrooms, and commune with the night sky in this lovely psychedelic mini-adventure. In the roundup: 8 Doors, Blasphemous, Sundered, Scorn, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Inscryption. And a big thank you to shows latest Patron, bsushi!...

Haiku, the Robot is an indie game in the truest sense of the term—a solo developer project that was successfully Kickstarted all the way to a Steam and Switch release. It’s a delightful, atmospheric exploration adventure that wears its Hollow Knight and Metroid influences on sleeve—and deserves to carry that torch. In the roundup: Paradise Marsh, Lego: Bricktales, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Scou...

This week's show is an indie game roundup, featuring soulsy Zelda-like Tunic, the dreamy and melancholic Hindsight, and popular village-building puzzler Dorfromantik. In the roundup: new releases coming in October, and a couple of game demos that are in Steam’s Next Fest—the enigmatic Birth, and Season: A Letter To The Future. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so fro...

Immortality is an ambitious new interactive film game from Sam Barlow, in which the player turns detective to untangle the mystery of a missing young actress called Marissa Marcel. With an ingenious “match cut” mechanic and some very extra twists (hidden behind a spoiler break!) this is an absolutely unforgettable game. In the roundup: Moonscars, Dorfromantik, Foretales. Big thanks to The Short Ga...

Deathloop is Arkane’s latest, and some say greatest game. Initially a Playstation console exclusive and 2021 GOTY contender, it’s now getting a second wave of attention as it arrives on Xbox Game Pass and PS+. I talk through the highs and lows in this episode, from the excellent audio-visual presentation, voice acting, movement, and level design—to its tangled, misfiring story and frustratingly di...

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was announced this week, amidst a slew of game announcements from all of the big guns. This episode takes a look at some of the highlights from the Nintendo Direct, Sony State of Play, and Ubisoft Forward, before reviewing a cute little Game Pass title: Beasts of Maravilla Island. In the roundup: Bear & Breakfast, Rogue Legacy 2, Harvestella, Foretales...

Watch out Nintendo: Tinykin is coming for your gig! This Paper Mario meets Pikmin 3D platformer is all-but flawless: hear about why in this week's main review. I also talk about the opening section of crisp 2D roguelike action-platformer Rogue Legacy 2, and look ahead to some exciting upcoming indie console releases including Bear & Breakfast, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, Slime Rancher 2, and D...

This episode was a strange one to make... how do you talk about a game that you're broadly enjoying, and playing daily – whilst also thinking every aspect of it is in some way strange, off, lacking, or flawed? That's the "gamefeel"-related terrain I attempt to navigate in this episode, all about the newest cutesy village-builder on the block: Ooblets. In the roundup: Slime Rancher,...

Dicey Dungeons is a brilliant roguelike deck builder by Terry Kavanagh that rolls sixes on slick presentation, ingenious mechanics, and game-show atmosphere. In the roundup: Ooblets, Midnight Fight Express, We Are OFK, Turnip Boy commits Tax Evasion. 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...

PRAISE THE LAMB! This week’s episode is a deep-dive into the bug-riddled but impressive indie hit, Cult of the Lamb. In the roundup: PowerWash Simulator, Steve Jackson’s Sorcery, We Are OFK, Cursed To Golf, Rollerdrome, and more. 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 co...

This week I've been tending my flock in freshly-minted indie darling Cult of the Lamb, and running around in open world fan-fave Ghost of Tsushima. Expect a full Cult of the Lamb review this time next week! Also, a big thanks to the show’s newest Patreon patron Blake McKean. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can do so from $1 per month and get exclusive episodes, sale recom...

This week I was derailed from my FFVIIR playthrough when my two "side games" just took over, and my poor old main game got kicked to the kerb for a bit. The games in question? Pocket-sized mech-tactics roguelike Into The Breach, and the most bizarre cult hit of the year: the chorecore dad-fest that is PowerWash Simulator. Thanks to the show's newest patrons, Dave Jackson (of Tales From...

This week I opened a fairly random Games With Gold title just for a quick try — and ended up finishing the whole thing in just a couple of sittings! Yoke's Island Express in a 2018 game that combines beach holiday atmosphere, metroidvania structure and... bug pinball? Hear all about it in this week's featured review! Also mentioned: Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade, Forza Horizon 5: Ho...