Whatever's coming from Cardboard Computer, it'll be worth the wait

Kentucky Route Zero is probably in my top five favorite games of all time. The game's whole feel, its subject matter, the process that went into making it �I'm fascinated by the whole thing, which is why I'm so thrilled to get absolutely any news from the development team behind it, otherwise known as Cardboard Computer. While it hasn't been all that long since the release of Kentucky Route Zero's final act back in 2020, the team has been hard at work on their new project, as they showed during the Annapurna Interactive Showcase.

While we have almost no information about what type of game it will be, where it will be set, any story points, etc., we did get a brief look at Cardboard Computer's new workflow, and what little we saw already has me giddy to learn more. Developers Jake Ell?iot, Tamas Kemenczy, and Ben Babbitt showed off their new animation software, which utilized some kind of face-mapping tech rigged up to a character model.

//youtu.be/UeQYiKQoH_g?t=1312

They stated that this is the first project where they will be focusing more on performance, and while Kentucky Route Zero was a fairly slow, static game, this new project will be more "lively" with fully-animated characters. The story will also be more upbeat this time, they said after reminding themselves that while Kentucky Route Zero had comedic moments, it was ultimately a tragedy. Apparently they started working on the new game right away after Kentucky Route Zero wrapped up, and they've had this i?dea kicking around for as long as their debut title.

I'm thrilled to even get an update, and will be awaiting any more with bated breath. Although the details are sparse right now, Cardboard Computer i??s one of those developers that I have faith will deliver something amazing every time.

The post Kentucky Route?? Zero devs tease their mysterious new project appeared first on Destructoid.

How games depict America, for better and for worse

It was ??fun to sit on my rooftop and watch the fireworks over the Los Angeles cityscape for the Fourth of July this year, but I gotta be honest �it didn’t feel like there was much to celebrate this year. Regardless of the depressing state of our country, the holiday got me thinking about Americana in video games and how they depict our country, for?? better and for worse.

Aside from Japan, the United States is the world’s leader in video game production, so it makes perfect sense that developers would borrow themes, imagery, and iconography from their country of origin. Sometimes it’s to pay homage to where t??hey came from, other times it’s with the express purpose of critiquing the systems and ideals that run our nation, and sometimes it’s a mixture of both.

Small Town Life

[caption id="attachment_291280" align="alignnone" width="1400"] _{Life is Strange: True Colors}[/caption]

Having grown up in one myself, games that take on the American small-town setting will always hold a special place in my heart. One of the series that portrays the classic “small down with a dark secret�trope well is Life is Strange �and it does an excellent job of capturing on a smaller scale that America has a lot of dark secrets hiding under the surface, many of which have come to light over the past few years. For so long our country pushed this narra?tive of being an ideal, almost utopian place (at least for some), but the whole thing was built on a broken system to begin with.

Night in the Woods nails this theme as well. Most of the game has the player making friends, hanging out around t??????????????????????????own, and dealing with the fallout of poor decisions that are really manifestations of trauma. However, there’s a cult running around murdering people because they think they’re doing their part to keep the town running. Sounds a little familiar, right?

The American Dream is Dead

[caption id="attachment_265358" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{Kentucky Route Zero}[/caption]

Another classic tale of Americana in video games is big corporations decimating middle America �a phenomenon so common, it’s the subject matter of multiple games, including Kentucky Route Zero, NORCO, Night in the Woods, and Life is Strange: True Colors. Coercion, cover-ups, and buyouts are the name ?of the game, and in a country that’s run by some corporations in a trench coat, it’s a fitting narrative, to say the least.

What I love about games like Kentucky Route Zero and NORCO as well is that they’r??e so specific to the regions in which they are set �Kentucky and New Orleans, respectively. The games' settings use iconic American imagery like gas stations, highways, and factories to great effect. The creators are from these areas and also did a great deal of research, so you can really feel both the love and the heartbreak that emanates from these titles as you play them. They may take place in very different parts of the country, but the story of a giant corporation coming in and killing off not only industry, but actual citizens, is distur??bing in how true to real life it is.

[caption id="attachment_314922" align="alignnone" width="1876"] _NORCO[/caption]

I also can’t mention Kentucky Route Zero without bringing up one of its interludes: The Entertainment. This sequence portrays a fictional play in the game’s world, which depicts a mundane and somewhat depressing sequence of events in a bar that has seen better days. The whole thing feels so evocative of American playwrights of the twentieth century, like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Kentucky Route Zero’s dialogue is formatted like a script throughout the entire game as well, further evoking a theatrical framework throughout the rest of the episod?es.

For God and Country

Of course, we can’t have a conversation about America and not mention religion, because our country has pretty much become synonymous with evangelicalism. No other game showcases our country’s obsession with religion, American exceptionalism, and racism better than BioShock Infinite. It doubles down on Americana in a video game like I've never seen before, and what it lacks in nuance, it makes up for in style. While it’s still a dated game, and its social commentary could have been greatly improved even in its time, Infinite doesn’t shy away from the uglier parts of our? history, wh?ich is more than many games do.

Then there’s a game like Far Cry 5, which I still haven’t played, but it’s certainly on my list considering my fas?cination with Americana. All I know is that it takes place in Montana and the main antagonistic force is some kind of militaristic doomsday cult. I remember when the game came out in 2018 that its story felt like an exaggeration of the way many in our country practice religion, but these days, it’s feeling a little bit too on the ?nose.

[caption id="attachment_324071" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{BioShock Infinite}[/caption]

Tangential to America’s obsession with religion is our obsession with the military. There have been dozens and dozens of games that feature the United States armed forces in some capacity, but the series that encapsulates this the best is definitely Call of Duty. They have been some of the most popular games out there since the series started back in 2003, depicting wars from World War II all the way up to the present, and some might argue, glorifying them to a certain extent. Don’t get me wrong, I myself have played and enjoyed Call of Duty games, but we can’t separate the games from real life when the military is straight-up using these games to try and recruit players into their ranks.

Man Versus Nature

One of the most American story types ever created is the western, which of course we see in the Red Dead Redemption series. These games are an extension o??f Amer?ica’s deep-seated love of cowboys and outlaws, which rose to prominence thanks to the westerns that were made popular in the twentieth century by actors like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.

Of course, plenty of the games we have now put a new spin on the western genre �The Last of Us is one that immediately comes to mind. Having a deadly infection going around defi?nitely makes for a hostile environment, and Joel is something of a lone wolf you might say (at least until Ellie breaks through his shell a little). I find i??t pretty interesting that our updated version of a western has you walk away with the idea that opening yourself up to the idea of love in a harsh world maybe isn’t such a bad thing after all.

[caption id="attachment_105941" align="alignnone" width="620"] _{The Last of Us}[/caption]

In conclusion

The games I mentioned here are some of my favorites, or at least the ones that stood out to me, but there’s a myriad of other titles out there that reflect American?? cultur??e in various ways. There are tons of other games out there that touch on topics I haven’t mentioned, especially when it comes to the stories of marginalized people, and I know I’d love to see more of those stories highlighted in the future, especially because most of those come from the indie space.

??The history of American media reflecting the country’s culture is a l??ong, difficult, but also beautiful one, and it’s exciting to see Americana in video games becoming part of the canon in that regard as well. As games continue to tell innovative and compelling narratives, I look forward to seeing how a new generation of developers uses the medium to express their relationship to Americana moving forward.

Story Beat is a weekly column discussing anything and everything to do with storytelling in video games.

The post A storied history: Americana in video games appeared first on Destructoid.

Give me the melodrama

Melting candles, dark, cobwebbe?d corners, crimson blood stained on white lace �aesthetically, goth??ic horror is one of my favorite genres out there. Staples of gothic horror include anything as broad as a suspenseful, mysterious atmosphere, prophecies, and intense emotion, to the specifics of a castle setting, a damsel in distress, and stormy weather, just to name a few.

Before gothic horror became a whole aesthetic, inspiring media from every form, it had its humble beginnings in literature. The genre originally got its start from a short story called The Castle of Otranto, which was subtitled A Gothic Story. From there, we got the classics like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, just to name a few.

The number of games that fall neatly into the gothic horror genre is surprisingly and disappointingly small. In the mainstream, the only games I can think of that fit into this category are Bloodborne, Darkest Dungeon, Castlevania, and Vampire: The Masquerade. I bet there are some smaller indie games that are up to snuff, but they're not well-known enough to really solidify got?hic horror's place in the mainstream gaming market. I'm not even sure that that l??ast one entirely counts, because it was a tabletop game first.

There are plenty of games out there that are tangential to the true vein of gothic horror like the Diablo series, which I'd consider to be more of a gothic-fantasy hybrid. Then you have beloved series like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, both of which I would say borrow from gothic horror, but the distinction there is that those games are more aligned with eastern horror conventions, while gothic horror relies more heavily on western tropes and imagery. I would argue that games like Kentucky Route Zero, Alan Wake, and the yet-to-be-released NORCO do a great j??o?b of representing the American gothic subgenre.

There's even a game like Dream Daddy?, where the eccentric romanceable NPC Damien became a fan-favorite representation of a gothic vampire. To me, he's a great example of how gothic horror can integrate well into today's pop culture, which is honestly a really cool idea and something I want to see more of.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, and maybe this whole conversation seems pointless to you, but as someone who is incredibly fond of the aesthetic associated with gothic horror, I think we're really missing out on some cool games here. While horror is part of the name, gothic horror isn't outright about scaring the crap out of you �instead, it often dives deep into topics of mortality, despair, and regret, and so on, which makes it rife with potential to tell really compelling, albeit dark, stories within a highly stylized framework.

I want to see a community sim inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, where you manage a cursed old home as the last surviving member of a once prestigious family. I want a dating sim with dark, mysterious suitors inspired by the likes of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I guess you can just file this article into my ever-growing category of trying to manifest my gaming fantasi??es. At the end of the day, I see a whole lot of unused potential, and I want to start a conversation about the hypothetical games of my dreams that I could be playing this Halloween.

Story Beat is a weekly column discussing anything and everything to do with storytelling in video games.

The post Where are all the gothic horror games? appeared first on Destructoid.

My two favorite things!

I really love musical theater. I was raised on original Broadway cast recordings of various shows like Les Miserables, Little Shop of Horrors, and Wicked, and my friends and I even had a Phantom of the Opera fan club when I was in third grade. So as you can imagine, I was pretty jazzed when I discovered there was a musical adaptation of the 1971 educational game The Oregon Trail.

The show is aptly named The Trail to Oregon!, and it was first performed back in 2014 by Starkid Productions. If you haven't heard of them, boy are you missing out. Basically they started as a student-run theater company at the University of Michigan in the early 2000s. Their shows are usually parodies of well-known IPs like Star Wars, Batman, and Aladdin to name a few, with their most successful shows poking fun at the Harry Potter un??????????????????????????iverse. I r??eally recommend checking out their stuff if you like musical theater and also want to laugh your ass off.

//youtu.be/BxKCX-UvPrI

Other than The Trail to Oregon! being inspired by the classic video game, they take it a step further by letting the audience choo??se the members in their wagon party as well as which member of the party dies ??at the end. This isn't a ton of interaction by video game standards, but remember that these are real people who have to remember a new set of random names that are thrown out by the audience during each performance. On top of that, if they gave the audience any more say on the show's plot points, they would have to prepare whole scenes or songs that the audience would never see.

Ironically, that exact same problem crops up in the development of choice-based video games, mostly because it's really expensive and time-consuming to work on parts of a game that will be seen by only a few players. ??That balance of preparing enough variety so that the players feel like their choices matter while also not biting off more than you can chew is a difficult one to strike.

Similarly, there is a musical video game in production called Chorus, which features top-notch voice actors like Laura Bailey and Troy Baker. The idea is that it's a choice-based narrative game, but when you select dialogue choices, you're actually choosing the lyrics to songs, as well as the direction the story takes. Chorus is an interesting case because it pretty much does what Trail to Oregon can't �give t??he play??er an insane amount of choices, because each one is meticulously planned and created ahead of time.

//youtu.be/gvDoaYzRaVs

Of course, with a game you can swap out lines of dialogue, character models, environments, and anything else you need at a moment's notice, which is how it can accommodate a much larger number of permutations than live actors can. Who knows, this might all be conjecture and Chorus might be a disappointment upon its eventual release, ?but for now it's a game I'm really rooting for and can hardly wait to play.

Right from the top of the show, Trail to Oregon is entirely unafraid to acknowledge its physical limitations, from the set to the fact that they're just putting on a show for the audience's entertainment. This concept is called breaking the fourth wall, and while most of us know about this technique because of the movies that use it to great effect, like Deadpool or Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the term originated in theater. That's because you have the three walls? of t??he set, and then there's this imaginary wall between the audience and the performers onstage.

_{[Image Source: Starkid Productions]}

Breaking the fourth wall has been around pretty much since the origins of theater, when performers would speak directly to the audience. Think of Shakespeare's famous soliloquies, like the "To be, or not to be" speech from Hamlet �he's speaking directly to us, whi??ch is part of?? what makes it so powerful.

Games do this constantly, because NPCs are always talking to you, the player character. There's even an extra level of immersion there because instead of being spoken to as yourself, you're being spoken to as another character in the world of the game. In participating in a video game's story, you're participating in a way that's more similar to an actor than that of an audience member, which I th?ink is a pretty cool thing to do from the co??mfort of my own couch.

This is especially true of choice-based narratives and role-playing games. My favorite examples are the Telltale Games (RIP), because they actively acknowledge your participation in?? really fun ways, like the iconic "X will remember that" message that appears in the corner of the screen. I've written these kinds of games before, and I personally think it's one of the most challenging forms of character-based writing there is.

You have to maintain the base of who the character is while still allowing the player to react how they want in any given situation. The structure actually feels closer to improvisational theater in that way, so the whole illusion is about making the player feel like their choices matter wh??ile also keeping the characterization consistent.

I find it ironic that people most often compare games to movies, because I really think they bear a closer resemblance to theater than anything else. Especially with AAA games today, everyone is always talking about how "cinematic" they are, but ultimately films are an en??tirely separate entity from the viewers �you can't influence the final product in any way. Games and theater both have this explicit knowledge of an outside force, whether it be more passive, like sitting in an audience, or active, like directly choosing the direction the story will take.

There are tons of other amazing games that draw on the crossover between theater and games, specifically Dominique Pamplemousse, Kentucky Route Zero, and Elsinore, just to name a few. ??If this is something that interests you, I seriously recommend you do some research because I di??dn't even scratch the surface with this one.

This is a corner of the games industry, and the theater industry as well, that is relatively new and unexplored. As someone who loves storytelling, nothing gets me pumped up more? than seeing creative people push the boundaries of how we can tell stories, so I'm excited to see where else we can go from here.

The post This musical parody of The Oregon Trail highlights the int??ersection of games and theater appeared first on Destructoid.

Free Kentucky Route Zero

If you are among the tens of millions of Amazon Prime subscribers, you also have something called Twitch Prime. For the purposes of this post, all you need to know about the latter is that it means you get an amazing game, for free.

From April 20-24, Twitch Prime members can download the incredible Kentucky Route Zero for free. Only four of the five episodes have been released, but  the moody point-and-click is one of the best games to come out in recent years, so you should take advantage. And if you want, here's other shit you ??get out of your automatic Twitch Prime ?subscription.

The post Free game for Am?azon Prime members this week is worth the download appeared first on Destructoid.

It's (not) too late to love you now

Hey, quick question. Do you pronounce the word 'route' as "R-out" or "root"??? I'm in the? latter camp, myself.

Anyway, independent developers Cardboard Computer released another 140-character progress update on the much-anticipated fourth act of their superb bourbon-tinged 'Phantom Tollbooth by way of Johnny Cash' adventure game Kentucky Route Zero. They also posted a teaser image from the episode, which we've embedded above. The fishing trip, an iconic part of Americana, h??as been stripped of its humanity, leaving its core bare for all to see. ?A perfect encapsulation of the melancholic nostalgia that oozes from the Zero's every pore.

Act IV is almost done! Excited to share it soon.

— cardboard computer (@cardboardcompy) November 24, 2015

If you have yet to experience Kentucky Route Zero, you should treat yourself. It's the perfect game to play during these long, dark months, especially as you return to your hometown for Thanksgiving, spending precious free time in a place that you reject for its unflinching tradition but also resent for moving on without you, all the while torn asunder by the space between these two irreconcilable truths. It's an, uh, extremely moody game, if you haven't surmised. But don't let me lead you astray -- Kentucky Route Zero isn't depressing; it's just bit??tersweet.

Each version of the game comes with the soundtrack, which I'd argue is easily worth the price on its own. There's not much I wouldn't give to hear 'Long Journey Home' on a good vinyl player, and that's to say nothing of the mesmerizing 'Too Late to Love You'.

The post Kentucky Route Zero Act 4 is ‘almost done’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Christmas in August

Kentucky Route Zero developer Cardboard Computer has taken to its Twitter account to address the existence of the forthcoming Act IV. The dev??eloper is adamant that the game has not been abandoned, even though no concrete release date has been announced.

So, for total clarity: KRZ Act 4 is not abandoned, canceled, a "scam,??" a performance art piece(?), or anything else but a work-in-progress.

— cardboard computer (@cardboardcompy) August 2, 2015

We've Storify'd the tweets here for the curious. I love Kentucky Route Zero more than most things in my life, so any news is welcome. I'd rather the team at Cardboard Computer work hard on making this next act the best one yet -- a tall order, considering the heights of Act III.

The post Kentucky Route Zero Act 4 is ‘not canceled’ appeared first on Destructoid.

One of my favorite games from last year

Kentucky Route Zero fought hard in a number of categories in our 2013 game of the year awards d?espite only the first two of five episodes having been released. It is very good. Even if Act IV isn't out yet?.

You can get the season pass (Acts I-III now, IV and V whenever they come out) on Steam for $12.50 at the moment, half o??f the u??sual $25 asking price. Well worth it. 

The post Kentucky Route Zero is half off (and you sho?uld buy it) appeared first on Destructoid.

Sometime......

Part of the drawback with games released in an episodic fashion is that you're always clamoring for the next installment. Whether it's The Wolf Among Us or The Dream Machine, some of my favorite recent episodic titles have been hit with delays of various lengths between releases and that's been especially true with Kentucky Route Zero. In a blog post, developer Carboard Computer has revealed that it's still working on Act III but does't have a firm rel??ease date.

The post reads: "We are asked sometimes if the project is abandoned. No! Acts III, IV and V are still coming out. We've never stopped working on Kentucky Route Zero, and there's no risk o??f us abandoning it."? Which is reassuring, at least.

There's no update on when we can expect the rest of the game to arrive but Cardboard Computer has a reason not to say. "We publicly announced release dates for Act I and II, and in both cases those dates slipped... it ??was pretty demoralizing to miss deadlines, and the barrage of negative ??attention that followed made it only more difficult to focus on work."

I can understand why you would want to avoid announcing another release date when your work process might mean another delay. Still I can understand why people aren't happy with the non-appearance of Act III; Kentucky Route Zero was a crowd-funded? game and people want to kno??w that the game they've backed is going to be fully released.

Act III Progress Update. [Cardboard Computer]

The post Don’t panic, Act III of Kentucky Route Zero is on the way appeared first on Destructoid.

It's not the long-awaited Act III but it's welcome nonetheless

Whilst I check everyday to see if Act III of Kentucky Route Zero has downloaded, the folks at developer Cardboard Computer have released a standalone experience called The Entertainment. You'll take control of an uncredited actor port?raying a drunken barfly observing events in a bar. Which is really a theatre. Which might not be real. Kinda.

Evelyn is confiding in Harry about her husband Ted who is out of town due to his job as a hammer salesmen. Evelyn's worried that Ted might be tempted to cheat on her but Ted's well, like, a good man. Harry's been on vacation to New Orleans, spent seven days beside the beach. Or was it the pool, hard to remember. Pearl's gonna make some changes; she's not gonna take care of her parents anymore, all they do is take advantage of her but they know Pearl will pick up their tab. A? debt's a debt after all.

The Entertainment was performed one night in Buffalo in in 1973 and was written by Lula Chamberlain who was the artist that was featured in a gallery show last month that I posted about. At the time I wasn't sure if she was even real, as Lula appears in Act II of Kentucky Route Zero.

She was apparently an avant-garde artist during the 1960s but only gathered a small amount of acclaim. I? hadn't realized that the Cardboard Computer guys put out a virtual gallery game called Limits & Demonstrations at the start of the year, which was a des??cribed as a "virtual retrospective." The Entertainment is worth experiencing (the song towards the end was lovely) but it's making me anxious to play Act III.

The post Enjoy this Kentucky Route Zero play ‘The Entertainment’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Starting....ALREADY!

Kentucky Route Zero was an option during one of the Summer Steam Sale's "Community Choice" sales, but did you guys choose it? NO! Everyone picked freaking Dragon's Lair. Seriously? Dragon's Lair. What the heck, everyone else.

Anyway, Cardboard Computer says whatever and is holding their own sale: 50% off for two days, making all five acts cost a measly $12.49. I have absolutely loved the first two acts that have been released, and I urge you to pick them up if you even remotely like bizarre and unique stories that will keep you thinking. I'm not the biggest fan of traditional point-and-click games, but Kentucky Route Zero is in a league all its own.

The post Steam who? Kentucky??? Route Zero half off for 48 hours appeared first on Destructoid.

Everything's weirder in Kentucky

If I described Kentucky Route Zero as an episodic point-and-click, I'd be selling it short. Sure, it's episodic -- and, yeah, you move your mouse to point and click, but this game is something else. Something bigger. Something better.

Kentucky Route Zero is story-driven, filled with intrigue and atmosphere. It also manages to pique my interest in its world and universe more than Telltale's The Walking Dead ever did.

Kentucky Route Zero (Windows [reviewed], Mac, Linux [beta])
Developer: Cardboard Computer
Publisher: Cardboard Computer
Release: January 7th, 2013
MSRP: $25 (All acts) / $7 (Act 1) 

Kentucky Route Zero opens with protagonist Conway arriving in his truck at a Kentucky gas station. He has to make a delivery to Dogwood Drive, you see, and he needs a little help finding out exactly how to get there. If the locals are as trustworthy as they are kindly, then one can infer he needs to take The Zero.

It's not long before things become bizarre.

Gameplay is traditional for a classic adventure g????ame. Clicking on an area will move Conway and interactive objects are clearly displayed. I didn't meaninglessly click on every pixel just to see what can and cannot be used. Also, there aren't any skill games or puzzles. Nope, this is just a straight up, good ole' fashioned story. What a story it is shaping up to be, too!

Without spoiling anything: each encounter in Kentucky Route Zero is memorable. Some are odder than others, but each and every one left a footprint in my brain that left me with more questions than answers. The universe that Kentucky Route Zero creates is one that makes me want to wander about and see the sights until tha??t warm southern sun sleeps below the horizon.

The excellent writing throughout the game creates quite the memorable cast of characters. Heck, ?even the dog, who has no lines, is such a great character simply by the way it is used, allowing Conway to reflect on a situation as he talks aloud to his canine companion.

It's up to the player to choose what Conway will say with each interaction, though the overarching plo??t remains unaffected by these actions, so far. It's more ??like taking on the role of an actor or even a director, allowing the player to say what just comes natural.

After the first scene, the road map becomes available, allowing travel to new destinations. It is literally a GPS-esque road map that the player, indicated by a giant wheel, traverses by clicking where to go next. While the next destination is written in a handy dandy "Notes" section, with specific directions ??on where to go, you are free to roam about the map. Doing so will occasionally uncover a few extra events.

A few of these events stood out due to the way they are conveyed. While most of the game has the player clicking around a 3D environment to move and interact with objects, someti??mes the game breaks down into what is more or less a text adventure. These sections are just as well written as the rest of the game, but they seem out of place.

At first I thought maybe it was a sign of laziness on the developers' part. But when I really put some thought into it, I started supposing that it had to be intentional. Perhaps a homage to the adventure g??enre's roots. Perhaps there are so?me characters, locations, and other details that the developer want the player to use imagination to conjure up, instead of whatever 3D model they display.

Atmosphere is what it is all about in Kentucky Route Zero. Everything from the bleak visuals to the calming, yet ominous sound effects?? evoke a poignant sense of place. The visuals are often very dark and the simplistic 3D models of the characters do enoug??h to give personality while leaving the slightest bit to imagination.

The sound effects are subtle and at the same time realistic. It's a good ??thing they are realistic too, because sometimes they will be the only real thing you can hold on to. The score is especially solid, striking the exact tone just when it is needed. One track in particular is sure to keep you humming days later. It's got a very southern feel to it, with a bit of bluegrass and a bit o??f gospel combined into one.

I did encounter a strange glitch that where Conway walked through a wall, but it took me a second to wonder if it? was actually a bug or just another oddball moment. I'm pretty sure it was a bug. That's the beauty of the game. Even a bug that would normally break immersion and potentially ruin the experience had me contemplating whether or not it was meant to happen. To be honest, I'm still not really sure.

Kentucky Route Zero evokes the feeling of old ghost stories told around a campfire. There's the ??familiarity of friends and family around a warm, man-made fire, but with it comes the unnerving tale of the strange and unusual. It is beautifully bizarre and perfectly poignant, and most of all, deserves your attention.

The post Review: Kentucky Route Zero appeared first on Destructoid.