Hi folks, it's my (Joes) turn to do the intro! Welcome back to your consistently late video games newsletter! Sam has submitted his reviews to our shared doc days ago (including screenshots, which I usually have to nag him for! (cram it — S) so it's entirely on me that the "midpoint" of September is once again in the last week of the month (the most helpful checkpoints are nearer the end, I think we’re fine — S). If you've missed the tweet, I started adding past Checkpoints to Substack, and it allows for a much nicer experience of browsing our archive. You can find us at checkpointgot.substack.com. Not the worryingly and lawsuit-ally similar (and seemingly out of “print”) checkpoint dot substack. We’re the one with the * got * and the nice blue flag and the iffy grammar. Now enough intro talk let's get to the games talk!
Natalie Lawhead's ongoing fight for accountability on the abysmal handling of her trauma by Kotaku prompted the brilliant Grace to plead for institutional change and more transparency in games journalism. Very much related and worth a read is the essay There Is No Ethical Ambiguity When It Comes To Harm Reduction by Kaile Hultner.
CGI Ronald Reagan clawed his way up from the uncanny valley of our collective nightmares to announce the new Call of Duty game. And honestly, Fuck The Next Call of Duty Game. Some thoughts by Skeleton from DEEP HELL on the franchise's history of being "a-politcal", Cole Henry want to know how much longer videogames will be an avenue for US Army propaganda.
Back from the days of wearing sweatbands around your wrists for no reason is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 . Cole Henry wrote about how the remake reflects the changing culture of skateboarding.
The new Crusader Kings game is out and people are having a lot of fun scheming against their spouses, plotting fratricide, and going to war against literal babies. If you are both interested and intimidated by this dense strategy game, you can just watch other folks play it. Kat Brewster and their partner Jack de Quidt wrapped up their campaign but all videos are now available to watch on YouTube. I can't recommend it highly enough, plus it has some absolutely wonderful title card art.
Friendly fella Lewis Gordon has been hanging out in a chatroom with the animals from Age of Empires II. (Which I can’t recommend enough spending ten minutes or so in yourself, it’s wicked and surreal and sweet. I love art! — S)
Autumn Wright curated a new Critical Compilation on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild over at the fine site Critical Distance. It's a collection of all the best writing on the game by excellent and smart people from around the internet. Yahaha!
Henry Ewins ‘ intimidatingly deep but infinitely enjoyable dive into Why Online Multiplayer Isn't Always So Social for Uppercut.
This is your monthly reminder that Dia Lacina runs an excellent feature over at Paste, digging up some of gaming's very best soundtracks. The last two entries include big mech bops and a more personal reflection on ending and loss, community experiences, and a short-lived MMO.
My Exercise
Atushi Wada / Playables
iOS / PC / macOS
My Exercise is a neat little mostly yellow phone experience, illustrated and animated by Atsushi Wada. “Let's do sit-ups with a dog!” he suggests, and then goes on to absolutely deliver. It’s one of those you can’t really describe too much without spoiling, the kinda thing it’s often very hard to convince someone else to play even though you are so right that they would love it (especially that one moment kinda far in, if they just get past that one fetch quest section and have done exactly the other story bits and have had to restart 4 hours in cos they messed that one fight up, they’ll love it!). I’d say this one prob takes about 15-20mins to.. complete, the kind of thing you might even be able to convince your nan to play even. There are a couple sweet, silly incentives to get you to put that little man through all that again, but I personally figured he’d achieved more than enough. A neat, absurd, charming and motivating distraction; an opportunity to lay back, tap your phone and see all the unexpected, surprising and positive outcomes that come with actually doing that thing you said you would. — S
RIYL — Universal Paperclips, which you should also totally play, if you just get past that one bit and restart 4 hours in cos you messed that one moment up.
ALSO ... Another neat Playables experience I enjoyed last year, Il Filo Conduttore. Reminded me of all the cool shit that came out with the first iPhone touch, back when touch screens were still magic.
A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions)
Draknek
Apple Arcade / PC / macOS
So as I was thinking up my thoughts and what cool, uniquely moving take I could have on this game, I was stuck on this one puzzle. I had a big log, and a small log, and I had to roll and/or push them both in a particular way to create a bridge off the lil island I was on, to the next lil island. Stuck for like.. three days of opening the game and trying “all” the different combinations of rolling and/or pushing, doing something else, then reopening it and trying those same combinations again (I do not have the right mind for puzzles, or getting furniture through doorways). It’s one of those puzzle games that never gets frustrating, not least down to the fuzzy visuals or the steady, comfortable addition of new puzzle mechanics, nor the duvet drones and reflective noodlings of Eli Rainsberry’s OST* on top of all that. You feel smart just thinking up a new way you could beat it, regardless of whether it was right or not. But, when you do manage to take your time to roll the logs just right and build that bridge, like I did last night (fuck yeah), it’s absolute magic. Just remember to have a little sit and dip your toes in the water a while before rushing off to figure out the next one. — S
RIYL— Those brilliant Pushmo games on 3DS! Snakebird too, though this is much more forgiving.
ALSO ... *another one, I know! They’re unstoppable. Give yourself ten minutes from whatever your doing and sit or lie on the floor a bit and listen to a bit of it.
Cloud Gardens
Noio
PC / macOS (Steam Early Access)
Wanna get into a proper chill game thats also very pleasant to look at? This one has you absolutely covered on both counts. Cloud Gardens, currently in early access, offers two ways of playing. The campaign mode works sorta like a puzzle game. Each stage starts you off with a little diorama-like scene set against a pastel-gradient background. By peppering in plant seeds between the remains of urban civilisation you try to encourage your little garden to overtake the abandoned wasteland. The way to do this, is by placing objects around that give the plants energy to grow, allowing them to spread out even more. The sandbox mode lets you put in much stuff as you like, zone out, and watch your vines wriggle their way in between old tires, rusted-out cars, and across drain pipes. I found it very engaging to attach little stories to the objects as I was plopping them down, thinking about who the last person was to sit in this garden chair thats now supporting a giant monstera. There is comfort in knowing that the concrete hellscape we leave behind might someday allow some beautiful flowers to nestle in its cracks. — J
RIYL — Chill puzzles that are nice to look at like GNOG and Assemble With Care.
Hard games. Dark Souls. Post-game late-game high level challenges. These are what I’ve been banging my thumbs against recently. Partly cos I’ve done the other stuff, partly cos I want to cool sword or helmet or aesthetic option for whatever small party member I’ve grown attached to. Mostly because staying indoors and not working as much (orenjoying work as much) has left me without much opportunity to.. achieve things. It feels good to do something that you couldn’t before, and while finishing books or going for a run or learning the Succession theme on piano are all great, I don’t think there’s any shame in video games being the way you get there. It’s easy to beat yourself up about it, that you could’ve spent that time doing something “real” but fuck that noise. You worked hard, you worked you brain out and you learned new things and you focused, and you did something hard that you set out to do and it felt wicked.