171: El Paso, Elsewhere (with Jacob McCourt & Luke Lewis)

Tales from the Backlog

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Strange Scaffold is a rare game studio that gets as much, or maybe even more, positive attention for their workplace ethos and number of releases per year as they do for their games themselves. I found myself in that same position, with great respect for their process, but no experience with the games themselves....until now! El Paso, Elsewhere is an emotional take on neo-noir, vampire stories, Max Payne and boomer shooters, and it works really well!

Guest info: Jacob McCourt and Luke Lewis

• Check out their shared podcast Crossplay Conversations https://www.youtube.com/@crossplayconvos
• Check out Lukewarm Games https://www.lukewarmgames.com/
• Follow Luke on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/lukewarmlewis.bsky.social
• Check out Left Behind Game Club https://leftbehindgame.club/
• Check out Jacob's written reviews on The Gaming Brief https://thegamingbrief.ca/
• Follow Jacob on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/jacob.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

• 0:00 Title Card
• 0:22 Intros
• 4:20 Personal Histories with Strange Scaffold/El Paso, Elsewhere
• 10:43 Top-Level Thoughts on El Paso, Elsewhere
• 15:10 Story Setup
• 20:49 Presentation and Storytelling
• 27:02 Music
• 34:39 Shooting and Bullet Time
• 48:57 Gameplay Pacing
• 55:03 Closing Thoughts/Recommendations
• 1:01:27 Jacob and Luke Plug Their Stuff!
• 1:11:31 SPOILER WALL/Patron Thank-Yous
• 1:13:45 Spoilers- Janet, Draculae and James
• 1:33:06 Spoilers- Addiction, Being a Good Person, Endings

Music used in the episode is credited to R.J. Lake and LAKE SAVAGE. Tracks used: a forty-six story motel, GONNA CUT, GHOSTIN' THE MAINFRAME, audio demon, almost exactly the same, next time on elpasoball z.

• Buy the score- https://spellmynamewithabang.bandcamp.com/album/el-paso-elsewhere-part-one-the-score
• Buy the rap album- https://spellmynamewithabang.bandcamp.com/album/el-paso-elsewhere-part-two-the-album

Check out an interview with Xalavier Nelson Jr on the Gamerheads Podcast.

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Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

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