It’s bound to show up on some best-of-2018 lists
In case you missed it, someone had the brilliant idea to mix pinball-style platforming with the metroidvania format and the end result, Yoku’s Island Express, is a wonderful, lovingly-crafted game. I don’t know anyone who’s played it who isn’t over the moon about it, but Yoku is being overlooked.
I have a feeling we’re going to see that name referenced a lot during end-of-the-year recaps (and winter break is such a great opportunity to take your time with this type of game), but I figured a quick mention now couldn’t hurt. If you’ve wrapped up Hollow Knight and you need a fairly quick metroidvania fix, seriously look into Yoku — it’s on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One. Better yet, the latter two platforms have demos available. You can hit the credits over a weekend. Easy peasy.
Developer Villa Gorilla recently released a substantial update with fixes and welcome map improvements to help you track down your final collectibles, so it’s an extra good time to play.
After that? Well, August isn’t exactly hurting for new metroidvanias. It all kicks off with the long-awaited Chasm on July 31, Dead Cells leaves Steam Early Access on August 7, Death’s Gambit shows its moves on August 14, and Guacamelee 2 finishes the combo on August 21. Then we sleep.
