Pinstripe Review – A Heartfelt, Spooky Adventure Through Hell

<p>Quirky and endearing&comma; <i>Pinstripe <&sol;i>has quickly become one of my favorite indie games&period; When I sat down to play it last weekend&comma; I expected to take my usual stretch or snack breaks&period; Instead&comma; I played the entire game two times in a row without leaving my chair&period; <i>Pinstripe <&sol;i>is a passion project made with all of the right intentions&comma; and as a result&comma; creator Thomas Brush made something quite extraordinary&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>Pinstripe <&sol;i>starts as the protagonist&comma; Ted&comma; is awakened by his daughter while they are riding on a train&period; Bo invites her father to hunt for clues in a game of Sherlock as the platforming mechanics are effortlessly introduced between train car puzzles&period; Something then happens to little Bo&comma; and Ted is thrown into a snowy hellscape on his trek to rescue his daughter&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Thomas Brush’s Hell doesn’t look like one I’d imagine&comma; but his impeccable art direction makes it feel as it should&period; The graphics are uncomplicated&comma; allowing the story to be told through color and shadow&period; The Hell Ted explores feels like something Tim Burton or Neil Gaiman would think up&colon; monsters sporting helicopter propellers&comma; sludge-producing cave creatures&comma; and even an old woman trapped in a giant birdcage&period; Hell is spooky&comma; but not too frightening&period; Everything is just cartoony enough to feel lighthearted and fun&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;124828" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-124828" style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-124828" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;04&sol;30125407&sol;p7&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Pinstripe&comma; Armor Games" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"540" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-124828" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Pinstripe&comma; Armor Games<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The oddness of the characters Ted encounters in Hell shine through their individual voices&period; The voice casting is flawless and even includes a few surprise cameos throughout the game&period; Little Bo’s voice oozes with innocence and sweetness&comma; while the antagonist&comma; Mr&period; Pinstripe&comma; sounds downright scary&period; There’s welcomed humor found in the dialogue of a very dark story&comma; this combined with the quirky voice acting helps to keep the game whimsical rather than somber&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Not only did Brush write&comma; design&comma; and code <i>Pinstripe&comma; <&sol;i>he also composed the music&period; The background music of the Edge Wood level creates a level of ambiance comparable to that of <i>Donkey Kong Country’s<&sol;i> underwater areas&period; A puzzle shop in Edge Wood sounds like something you might hear on the <i>Ocarina of Time<&sol;i> soundtrack&period; Despite these familiarities&comma; the soundtrack is one-of-a-kind&period; These influences are transformed into something personal to the <i>Pinstripe<&sol;i> story and act as a tool to develop a nostalgic feeling within a brand new game&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;124826" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-124826" style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-124826" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;04&sol;30125348&sol;p2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Pinstripe&comma; Armor Games" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"540" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-124826" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Pinstripe&comma; Armor Games<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>All of these elements help to create cohesiveness and immersion within <i>Pinstripe<&sol;i>&period; Even the save points feel like a fluid part of the design&period; To save my game&comma; I’d simply approach a portrait hanging on a wall&comma; inspect it&comma; and save&period; As a short&comma; two-hour game&comma; save points could have been entirely stripped from the design&comma; but in this format&comma; they are yet another element pulling the design together&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The short duration of the game may make some players wary&comma; but it packs a lot of punch in a small amount of time&period; After the end credits of <i>Pinstripe<&sol;i>&comma; a bonus item is immediately rewarded that unlocks three areas inaccessible before&period; This was a huge incentive for me to play through the game a second time&comma; because I was curious to see what was behind those doors&period; What I found behind the doors unlocked even more content and achievements within the game&period; There’s even a Super Vintage Mode to reward players for playing multiple times&period; It would be difficult to walk away from the game only playing it once&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At its heart&comma; <i>Pinstripe <&sol;i>is a story-driven adventure game&comma; with some enjoyable puzzles to add some challenge&period; The puzzle mechanics are introduced gradually&comma; and they are placed within the game in such a way that knowing what to do to solve the next puzzle feels intuitive&period; <i>Pinstripe <&sol;i>doesn’t feel as though it’s meant to be a puzzle game&comma; because the puzzles are not difficult enough to consume much time while playing&period; Instead&comma; they help to show the struggles Ted must overcome to save his daughter&comma; without becoming discouraging&period; Brush keeps it short and sweet&comma; focusing on the story and balancing the short game with rewards for multiple playthroughs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;124827" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-124827" style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-124827" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;04&sol;30125355&sol;p6&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Pinstripe&comma; Armor Games" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"540" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-124827" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Pinstripe&comma; Armor Games<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The only part of <i>Pinstripe<&sol;i> that didn’t always feel intuitive was the keyboard controls&period; I’m used to the space bar being the standard Jump key while playing PC games&comma; but in <i>Pinstripe<&sol;i>&comma; jumping is done with the up arrow&comma; or W&period; The space bar is instead used for interacting with objects&period; This makes sense in the design of the game&comma; so this isn’t quite a criticism&period; It just doesn’t feel as natural as the rest of the game&comma; and therefore stood out quite a bit during my playthroughs&period; I decided to stick to controller commands instead&comma; which felt more instinctive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With heartfelt storytelling&comma; stunning art design&comma; and atmospheric music&comma; <i>Pinstripe<&sol;i> is sure to start hitting those Best Indie Games lists soon&period; It’s inspiring to see what one person can create when he believes strongly in his vision and ideas&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>A PC review copy of<&sol;strong><em><strong> Pinstripe<&sol;strong><&sol;em><strong> was provided by Armor Games for the purpose of this review<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;