On The Radar - Turn-Based Games releasing on June 2022
A BIG FAT ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
"Only the dead have seen the end of war".
- Plato
I could continue to look the other way, to talk about how many great games are going to be released this month, how beautiful they will be and how happy we will be, but everyone knows we have a big problem. Hardly anyone seems eager to talk about it, but, nonetheless, the "brutal reality" is always before our eyes, and Its horrors prevent me from thinking clearly of anything else.
Once someone said, "Never ignore the elephant in the room. That's rude; play with it and introduce it." So, this time, I decided to put aside my silly irony and talk about it, to talk about War.
Nowadays, it seems possible to discuss just about anything. They call it "relativism"; it essentially means everyone has the right to think whatever they want about anything. I'm not sure I like this mindset. I'm convinced that there are ideas, rights and values that must be considered universal, with no exceptions.
We can discuss whether a dress is nice or ugly, or whether for a man to be a true Italian, he MUST have a wonderful mustache, but if I say that War is tragedy, is this arguable?
I'm referring not only to the Ukrainian war, but to any kind of aggression. I often heard things like, "have you considered that this war can be justified by ... ?" (fill the gap with random words: history, threats and so on). My answer will always be "no". To me, there is no excuse for violence. Violence can never be the "right answer". Violence is not any kind of answer. It's just a reaction, a "wrong reaction".
You can change its name - you can call a war "a military operation" or "a peace-keeping mission". You can call the shit many names, but it will always smell like shit.
Not long ago, I've interviewed Vallynne, the developers of Shores Unknown - a small team mainly composed of Russians. Very nice guys who spent a ton of time injecting life into their dreams. In a recent statement, they declared they had to cease the development, after many years of effort - because of a war they considered foolish. And this isn't the only case. Many other games - like Stalker 2, Atomic Heart, Replaced - have an uncertain future ahead of them.
It may be tempting to say, "it's not so important, these are just games!" But it's not like that. Video games aren't just products. They are made by people, the developers, who have their lives, their homes and families - and many of whom are from countries involved in war. Ukrainian and Russian people, who invested all they have in a project, who now see their dreams destroyed (or suspended) by the madness of a bunch of fools.
Do you really think there is a justification for all this insanity?
EXILE ORIGIN - 1ST JUNE
POLICE SHOOTOUT - 1ST JUNE
MY MASTER'S A MORON - 2ND JUNE
TITAN SAGA: CHAINS OF KRONOS (E.A.) - 9TH JUNE
GLOOMGRAVE - 13TH JUNE
THE HAND OF MERLIN - 14TH JUNE
NEURA MECHANICUS: PROLOGUE - 15TH JUNE
SEFIROT SHARDS (E.A)- 15TH JUNE
FIRE AND MANEUVER (E.A.) - 16TH JUNE
DRACULA - 17TH JUNE
SUMMONERS FATE (E.A.) - 20TH JUNE
HUNYADI STRATEGY (E.A.) - 21TH JUNE
CRYSTAL SOUL CHAMBERS - 21ST JUNE
DARK ILL - 22ND JUNE
GORDIAN QUEST - 23RD JUNE
DISGAEA 6 COMPLETE - 28TH JUNE
THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT SIMULATOR (E.A.) - JUNE
TILEFINDER - LATE JUNE
LEGENDS OF KINGDOM RUSH - JUNE
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. My favorite of all the games shown here is either Gordian Quest or The Hand of Merlin.