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

Support my work on Patreon (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) 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. (https://www.gamerheadspodcast.com/post/el-paso-elsewhere-interview-with-xalavier-nelson-jr) Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR) Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson)! Social Media: BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/) Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-top-3-podcast/id1555269504), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2euGp3pWi7Hy1c6fmY526O?si=0ebcb770618c460c) and other podcast platforms (atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!