I’ve been in kind of a gaming slump the last few years. I was tired of doing menial tasks in Animal Crossing: New Horizons or getting angry at players I presumed were teenagers in a Fall Guys lobby. I wanted something with a story to suck me in and give me that sense of wonder I used to have playing games as a kid. Then Eastward entered the chat and completely took me by surprise. The Nintendo Switch game follows John and Sam — a quiet miner and his excitable, mysterious companion — as they fight a destructive “miasma” that has forced many to live underground and travel east to find a better future.
The game (which is also available on Steam) is impressive in terms of aesthetics, story, and combat mechanics. Eastward is influenced by ’90s Japanese animation and role-playing games — evident in its charming character designs and gorgeous backdrops — and…
