Kingdom Eighties Summer of Greed – Original Score by Andreas Hald Vinyl Review 💿📀 #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

I do enjoy diving into a soundtrack for a game that I have no context for, having covered Raw Fury’s previous OST Cassette Beasts – a game I was very familiar with – Kingdom Eighties is a game that I was aware of, but hadn’t yet played.

Written and performed by Denmark-based composer Andreas Hald, This soundtrack hurtled at me out of nowhere to become a real favourite due to the world conjured up by the rich production, emotive compositions and powerful melodies. There’s so much to take in here, with echoes of some of my favourite albums through the years from the wonderful, alien oddities of Chase Bethea’s work on Aground, through the wide-eyed synth innocence of Salvinsky’s Narita Boy, the cyberpunk expanse of Encodya, to name a few that come to mind – all popping with the expertise mastering at the hands of Adam Ayan at gateway Mastering Studios, a huge high-five especially in this regard as the album is so clear and bright, it makes for a glorious listening experience and completely brings the music to life.

Gothic 2 Classic Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "odd characters, amusing dialogue and locations" ⚔️ @gothicthegame @AlkimiaGameDev #IndieGame #GameDev

I’ve been a fan of Piranha Bytes since discovering the first Risen game back on the PS3. After completing that game, I was so taken by the rough ‘n ready (also slightly bizarre) style of the Piranha Bytes games that I worked backwards and picked up Gothic 3, also enjoying that title – but finding it a bit awkward to get to run on my PC, at the time.

Since moving on from both the Gothic and Risen series, Piranha Bytes are now working on their third ELEX game, a series that I’ve had a mixed opinion of, especially because of the game-breaking bugs I encountered when reviewing ELEX 2 last year.

Through all of this though, Gothic 2 is held as somewhat of a high watermark of their games in terms of narrative, quest design and atmosphere. Playing it on the Switch was my first time with the game, and whilst it is certainly showing its age in many areas, that janky charm and idiosyncratic approach to quests and dialogue does still feel fun and fresh, and kept me coming back for more, each evening.

Full Void Nintendo Switch Review 7 / 10 "A Slice of Cinematic Cyberpunk" 👤 @outofthebit #IndieGame #GameDev

The cinematic platformer is a genre well-suited to Switch, as the impact of the pixel visuals works especially well in docked mode, when you can snuggle up in bed or in a comfy chair and dive into a genre that tends to never be overlong, by design, making them relaxing experiences over a night or two.

Developer OutOfTheBit Ltd have delivered a strong slice of such action, in a wonderfully wordless experience that clocks in at around a couple of hours, making it a breezy game to replay – in a similar vein to Devwill Too on MD, a game I routinely return to each year, for its brevity and melancholy.

Trust GXT490 Fayzo 7.1 Gaming Headset Review By Britt 🎧 @TrustGaming

We’ve covered several Trust products here at GF HQ, and they always deliver a quality experience at fair prices, the Trust GXT490 Fayzo 7.1 Gaming Headset is no exception to this rule in the quality, comfort and accessibility that it offers.

Horizon Forbidden West Vinyl OST Review By Britt "An album that has a world-building vibe to it" 💿 #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl #VGM

I’ve just covered another Sony Entertainment release – the God of War: Ragnarök OST – and the difference in presentation (visuals, not quality) is quite staggering. Whereas God of War: Ragnarök was filled with freezing blues and expansive whites, here Horizon Forbidden West is instead rich with almost alien tropical landscapes, and hot shades of orange. 

This is also a more ‘meat and potatoes’ release, on heavyweight black vinyl - but with no inserts such as art cards or the like – although there is a collector’s edition deluxe version of this release that is available on vinyl, but it’s the standard version that I’ll be covering today.

God of War: Ragnarök – Vinyl OST Composed by Bear McCreary " pairs well with a horn of mead" 🐻 @bearmccreary #Vinyl #VGM #VideoGameVinyl

The much-loved God of War franchise has been rolling on, powered by a war-like bloodlust since 2005 on the PS2, and has been known for its award-winning, rousing scores, which – since 2018 -have been handled by American composer Bear McCreary – who also plays the role of Raeb in-game. This triple-vinyl release features 28 tracks, including a final song that features Irish songwriter HOZIER. Faroese songwriter Eivør also features on a handful of songs throughout the record, mainly appearing on the first disc.

Murder is Game Over XSX Review 7.5 / 10 "Pocket-sized Pixel Pondering" 🔪 #IndieGame #GameDev @HitherYonGames @RatalaikaGames

A budget title from Ratalaika, Murder is Game Over is a short and fun narrative horror made in RPG Maker, full of jaunty music and pixel detective action.

As detective Guy and his crime-solving dog Chloe, you’ll roam a mansion and the surrounding grounds in a bid to solve the murder of a world-renowned game designer.

There are eight suspects, and thirty bags of dog treats to find as you try to solve this dastardly crime, as well as a treasure-hunting side quest!

A game that cosily leads you through the mystery as opposed to getting your grey cells pulsating, Murder is Game Over is a fun and light-hearted way to spend an evening, satisfactorily wrapping up its plot in an hour or two, and a big high five for the awesome music, which I would quite happily purchase on vinyl, awesome stuff!

The Crew Motorfest XSX Review 7.5/10 "Hawaii Five Oh!" 🌴🏎️🌴

The newest entry in The Crew franchise, The Crew Motorfest plonks drivers down in the paradise of Hawaii and lets them loose across the many locations of the island, from volcanos and mountain roads through dense foliage, absurd, spiralling racetracks, suburban areas and more.

After creating your driver and choosing your starting vehicle, you are free to roam around the island as you see fit. You can free roam or enter one of the myriad of ‘playlists’ (races) available, these range from drag races in highly-tuned performance cars to old camper vans, monster trucks, motorcycles and even planes.

There are currently well over 600 vehicles across these styles available, and each completed race will see you earning XP, unlocking extra vehicles and parts to replace and improve your various rides, in terms of both performance and vanity items.

There really is a huge amount of customisation available – as well as other micro-transactions that you can pay for to speed the process along, should you wish to do so …I personally avoid these like the plague, although it didn’t impinge on my enjoyment of the game as I was constantly unlocking and upgrading my garage of cars through normal play.

Video Game Lo-Fi: A Winter’s Tale (Vinyl & Cassette) Review 📀💿 @CuragaRecords @BrittRecluseuk #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl #VGM

Here in Wales, as the weather takes a colder turn, A Winter’s Tale arrived at the perfect time! 14 tracks of low-end, heavy, lo-fi warmth, this is an album that takes a trip-hop look at some of those seminal, snow-laden gaming moments through the years, taking us from Donkey Kong Country, past Mario Kart 64, through Stardew Valley, and the coast of Fable – alongside many others.

The front cover continues the classic lo-fi series approach of an isometric, stylised look at a certain location. Here, we are treated to a be-snowed take on Princess Peach’s castle from Mario 64, the familiar turrets poking out from underneath a blanket of deep, white snow; as light bleeds out from the entrance way, highlighting some scattered instruments outside in the snow; a piano, drums, acoustic guitar, and trumpet.

FROM ANTS TO ZOMBIES: SIX DECADES OF VIDEO GAME HORROR Book Review "The Gaming Necronomicon" 🧛‍♂️ @BitmapBooks #Retrogaming

Sam Dyer – the brain behind Bitmap Books – is someone that I imagine laughing wildly in a vast, ever-growing library somewhere, surrounded by mad monks engrossed in ever-more-perfect drafts of upcoming books through which they will eventually devour the gaming world. Each time I read a book by the publisher, it always feel definitive and individually voiced. I’ve commented before on how each release doesn’t feel like a run-through of the topic at hand, moving from genre-to-genre with a  vanilla, ‘one-size-fits-all’ sensibility. From the all-encompassing JRPG book to the laser-focused CRPG tome – and the surprisingly moving release on Gremlin Graphics – these books really do each have their own approach and style. 

From the moment that I caught wind of From Ants to Zombies, the fact that it was covering video game horror – a genre incredibly dear to me – I was desperate to discover what approach this book would take - and as it turns out, it’s possibly the boldest move by Bitmap Books yet, and one that absolutely lives up to the lofty heights that author Alexander Chatziioannou sets out in the first few pages.

Mondealy XSX Review 8/10 "I completely fell under the pastel-coloured, joyous sway that it conjures" 🌻 @ValkyrieInitia1 #IndieGame #GameDev

I’m very much on board with playing a wide variety of genres, and I appreciate that sometimes you need a game like Mondealy to slow you down and allow you to take stock of your life, appreciate what you have, and perhaps take a break from blowing up demons, shooting thousands of bullets at an alien threat, or squeezing your controller in love/respect/frustration because you missed that pixel-perfect 100th jump, and how need to do the last hours’ worth of progress again.

I initially played Mondealy off the back of a pretty full-on game, and switching from that to this mellow, slowly-unfolding world was initially a little jarring, but after a mental reset, I completely fell under the pastel-coloured, joyous sway that it conjures, especially enjoying the soundtrack, courtesy of the below talented composers:

The 7th Guest VR Meta Quest 2 Review 9.5/10 "Feeling…looooonely?" 🏚️🩸 @the7thguestvr #IndieGame #GameDev #MetaQuest2 #VRhorror

This is probably one of only a handful of reviews that I’ll ever write with my current mindset, due to my personal history with the game in question. The 7th Guest was - and is - a constant presence in my life.

I initially played the game on the Philips CD-i back in the mid-90s (with a friend called Brett, nonetheless) and I was completely mesmerised by what was - to me at the time- absolutely the future of gaming, in that it felt like a movie that you could control yourself! Between this and Burn Cycle, my young mind was blown wide open, and although I didn’t complete the game at the time, when I managed to get hold of a PC version a while later and play it through - with headphones - The 7th Guest made me feel like no other game had before.

I was completely pulled into its atmosphere and world, full of wonder and terror at what it offered both visually and sonically.

Over the years - thanks to Games Freezer - I’ve been in the position to interview George Sanger (the esoteric and wonderful composer of the music featured in the original game) as well as cover fan versions of The 7th Guest. In fact, I’m currently waiting on the release of an industrial rock vinyl of the soundtrack, as well as (hopefully, eventually) a hinted-at vinyl release of the amazing 7/11 album by Team Fat.

The 7th Guest soundtrack still often haunts the halls of my home, and I firmly believe it to be one of the most evocative and singular soundtracks ever laid down - so, what I’m trying to get at here, is ‘I like The 7th Guest’.

Fusion Retro Book: The Book of the Game of the Film Author – Jerry Ellis "The Review of the Book of the Game of the Film" 🎞️🎮📕 @Retro_Fusion #Retrogaming #Retrogames

This is the second book published by Fusion Retro Books that I have covered this year, and I own several others by them that I’ve picked up over the years and it’s all been very good stuff. This 300-page hardback continues the trend of high quality releases, and celebrates those oh-so-often movie, TV, and product tie-ins that were released so freely across the cluttered 8-bit landscape. Author Jerry Ellis crams as much gold as he can in those 300 pages, covering a huge amount of movie, TV, comic, product and even board-game tie-ins in a style that blends humour, insight, research and approachability.

Cardiff Gaming Market - 22nd October 2023 "Britt's Birthday Bonanza!"🕹️ @ReplayEvents #Retrogamer #Retrogaming

I’ve attended several Replay events over the years, and they have all been well organised, with some great stalls present that always have something that catches my eye. 

There were two things that had my trousers a-twirling this time around, though. Firstly, this was to be the first (as far as I’m aware) games market in my hometown of Cardiff - with the previous closest being in Bristol, several years back.

 I’ve often asked folks over the years about a full-blown convention in Cardiff, but as the majority of the pinball and arcade cabinets for these events are based/stored up north, the logistics seem to be an issue, for now at least.

The second thing that made the day so special, was that the gaming market was due in my hometown...on my 40th Birthday, October 22nd 1983. A date I’m sure resonates with everyone reading this because you’ve got it tattooed on your face because I play such an intrinsic part in each of your lives. Needless to say, I was excited. Especially as this was the first gaming event that we (@kingdomofcarts and I) would be taking our two-year-old son - Brian Blessed* - to.

Vampire the Masquerade Interactive Visual Novels Collector’s Edition – The New York Bundle 🧛 @FunStockGames @DrawDistanceDev #IndieGame #GameDev

The rich world of Vampire: The Masquerade hurtles out of the night and straight for your throat in physical form! Thanks to Funstock, you can now delve into the seductive and intriguing world of the darkest side of death through this ‘New York Bundle’, which collects the visual novels of Coteries of New York, and Shadows of New York in one place in a  wonderful collector’s edition, along with a suitably gothic USB drive housing the soundtracks, and a hardback book that collects the art of the games – and I have to say, isn’t just a collection of the art, but a deep breakdown of the locations and characters, adorned with alluring visuals.

These visual novel adventures truly capture the essence and seductive pull of the World of Darkness far better than the movie Interview with a Vampire, in which eternal life appears to be reduced to wandering around, bored and bickering (coincidentally the names of my canine teeth).

Available for PS4 and Switch, this collector’s edition is the perfect excuse to spend an evening lost in the murkier side of life, with a bottle of red…wine….to keep you company.

Wartales Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 "A GOTY Contender Crippled by Technical Issues" 🛡️ @Wartales_Game @shirogames #GameDev #IndieGame

It pains me to write this review of Wartales, as I so desperately wanted it to be a better experience, I was clutching my ageing Switch and willing it to somehow have a burst of strength and run Wartales more smoothly and less clunkily, but alas, I was getting the exact same vibes I did when I played Dragon Age: Inquisition on my PS3 over a decade ago – either the Switch is showing its age, or Shiro games really needs to patch the game up ASAP, as what could be one of the best gaming experiences of the year is at present a mere shadow of what it could be.

Slaps and Beans 2 Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "Slaps that add up to more than a hill o’ beans!" 🫱🫘 @SchiaffiFagioli #GameDev #IndieGame

I remember seeing the first Slaps and Beans come out a few years ago, and I always fancied trying it out, but it was one of the many games that unfortunately slipped through the cracks, so I certainly wasn’t going to miss this one! I’m glad I didn’t, as this is a fun blast of fisticuffs – preferably with a friend.

For those who were unaware – myself included – Bud Spencer and Terence Hill – the protagonists of the games – were popular Italian comedians back in the ‘70s who made an array of action comedies and spaghetti westerns from the late ‘60s right up to the mid-’80s., much like the various comedy duos of the ages, one is a gruffer, larger man whilst the other is a wiry, quick-witted chap. Good.

The Last Oricru – Final Cut XSX Review 7.5/10 "More fun than Starfield" ⚔️🛡️ @oricru #GameDev #IndieGame

The Last Oricru had a rough ride when it was first released at the tail end of 2022, ending up 7th in Metacritic’s ‘The Worst Games of 2022’ list. It completely passed me by at the time, until I was hunting for RPGs that were off the beaten track on the Xbox store and quite fancied the game following a swifty at the trailer.

I contacted Goldknights and was advised that an overhauled version of the game was due in a few weeks, and so I held off covering the game until then, and I’m very glad I did. I didn’t play the original release of The Last Oricru. Still, I can quite confidently say that I had much more fun in the 15 hours or so that I spent with The Last Oricru (and completed it) than the 40 hours I spent on Bethesda’s latest release (before giving up on it out of boredom).

Cassette Beasts Soundtrack Vinyl Review "a collection of warm, expertly crafted tunes that will get wedged in your head." 💿🎶🎵 @Joel_Baylis @blackscreenrec #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl #VGM

When I played it a few months ago, I was captivated by Cassette Beasts, a cutesy (…or is it?) RPG that took the Pokémon formula and added some neat twists in the gameplay and story that kept me engaged in its world for quite some time.

A huge part of the attraction for me was the music, which was clearly front and centre, high in the mix, and every track seemed to be an earworm designed to reel me in, hook, line, and sinker.

It was clearly a soundtrack that would stand alone outside of the video game, and so getting the chance to write about it here is an absolute pleasure. Before I dive into the product and music, I implore you to check out Cassette Beasts if you enjoy turn-based RPGs, as it’s a nifty little game!

Night at the Gates of Hell Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "More grimy, gory gaming action from the purveyors of filth" 💀 @henryhoare8 #IndieGame #GameDev

We at GF have learned to look forward to new console releases from Torture Star Video, as their awesome brand of video (game) nasties always entertain, and have a dirty streak a mile wide. The last game published by Torture Star Video that I personally covered was No One Lives Under the Lighthouse, a Lovecraftian-inspired slow-burn tale that captivated me with its lo-fi visuals and bewilderingly saucy sound design.

Night at the Gates of Hell, however, does not have a subtle, slow-burn approach… it instead goes for an especially nasty Italian zombie horror vibe, which it absolutely nails down with rusty masonry nails in a bloody mess of viscera and gore.