John Klingle
John Klingle is a critic, musician and actor living in Chicago. Growing up in Kentucky, he first played video games on his older cousin’s hand-me-down NES. Games like Super Mario Bros. 2, Kirby’s Adventure, and Simon’s Quest gave him a deep love for 2D exploration-based gameplay that continues to this day.
John came into indie games with Japanese titles like La Mulana, Cave Story and Yume Nikki as well as the works of Western developers such as Matt Thorson, Terry Cavanaugh and Cactus. He thinks the best games tell stories with environments as well as words.
Deep Sixed Review: Indentured Servitude Is Hard And So Is Space
You'll spend half of your time in Deep Sixed looking at the in-game manual, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. The game requires...
The Endless Journey Review: Not Worth The Walk
At its worst the visual novel genre can be overwritten and tedious. The Endless Journey manages to avoid this by incorporating elements of the...
Where Are My Friends? Reviewed: Multi-Genre Reach Exceeds Its Grasp
Where Are My Friends? is developer Beard Game Studios’ first release, and trying to span four different genres in your first game is a...
Yume Nikki Trades Intrigue for Exposure
When I first played Yume Nikki I had to navigate Japanese-language file sites, download an unofficial English patch and install a Japanese character pack onto...