A Story About My Uncle Reviewed

A Story About My Uncle Reviewed

By Nathaniel Liles

I didn’t have any idea what to expect from A Story About My Uncle when I first set out to play it. I’d seen some people doing Let’s Plays, then I saw all the great reviews popping up, then I saw that I absolutely needed to play A Story About My Uncle. I also saw that it wasn’t crowdfunded. This saddened me, because I really wanted to write about this one, so I talked to Mr. Greg and we started talking about this new feature we’re going to start doing. In short, we’re doing a non-crowdfunded game a month, because while crowdfunded gaming is awesome, every once in a while (actually, exactly once a month), there’s a game that simply need some props. I’m thrilled as chocolate pudding that I get to kick off this proud tradition, so let’s get started. A Story About My Uncle is one of the best games I’ve ever played.

A Story About My Uncle is an immersive platforming game with a unique and gripping story, and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. This game drew me into its characters and universe more thoroughly and quickly than anything I’ve played in ages. The entire game plays out as a story you tell to your daughter at bedtime, and it’s a great story. You start out exploring your uncle’s house after he’s gone missing on his latest “dangerous vacation”, and as you explore, you find a high-tech suit… And it’s just your size, as if it was made specifically for you. You suit up and move into the next room, where your uncle has built a trash-ejecting space catapult, and just start flipping switches. Well, one switch, at least. That switch turns the catapult on, and from there, the adventure truly begins.

Gameplay amount to a series of platforming challenges that revolve around your new suit, which imbues you with the power to jump reaaaaally really high and reeeeaaaaally really far, along with granting you the ability to use a sort of laser grappling hook. As you collect mysterious crystals placed throughout the world you’ve been taken to, your suit becomes more powerful, allowing you to grapple more times before you have to touch the ground. This works really well with the difficulty curve, only giving you the power you need for each challenge, and taking steps forward gradually, allowing you to get used to your new abilities before your ability is really tested. The difficulty is really well sculpted, and even though it gets a bit easy at points, the challenge is there when it needs to be.

A Story About My Uncle is aesthetically flawless. While the textures may not be dazzlingly high-def, the art design is amazing, making every element of the environment work together and come off as a living, breathing entity. Facial animations are great, conveying very human emotions through the frog people that inhabit this mysterious land you’ve ended up in.

If you’d like to learn a little more about A Story About My Uncle, you can check out Gone North Games, or you can watch the video review I did not too long ago for Cliqist!

A Story About My Uncle is currently available for purchase from both GOG.com and Steam.

A Story About My Uncle is our “It’s Not Crowdfunded But…” game of the month for May 2014.

http://youtu.be/ZiDg7Q1CeTw

 [facebook][tweet][Google][pinterest][follow id=”Cliqist” size=”large” count=”true” ] [author image=”http://cliqist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/nathaniel.jpg”]Nathaniel Liles is a freelance writer, writing major, and indie musician based in Southern Indiana. While procrastinating or avoiding real-world responsibility, Nathaniel enjoys playing rhythm games, action RPGs, and very colorful games with many bright, flashing lights. You can listen to Nathaniel sing songs or download his music for free on his BandCamp page. You can watch him play games on his Twitch channel. You can also follow him on twitter at @NathanielLiles. And finally, you can read more of his writing over at EliteGamingComputers.com. He’s a pretty connected guy.[/author]