Tales from the Backlog 171: El Paso, Elsewhere (with Jacob McCourt & Luke Lewis)

About this Episode

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.