Pinstripe – Nindie Spotlight – A Beautiful Journey Through Hell
I have to say, I’m not generally a big fan of horror games. Pinstripe, however, is absolutely phenomenal! Thomas Brush, the creator of the game, managed to focus on some beautiful hand-painted visuals and characters while keeping the whole unnerving feel of the game constantly at the front of your mind. The whole way through playing I was looking out for any tiny flaw, but I couldn’t find a single thing wrong with it.
So without any further introduction, here’s my Nindie Spotlight on the indie horror masterpiece, Pinstripe.
You play as a lanky minister named Ted and begin the game traveling on a train with your daughter, Bo. Then, the sinister Mr Pinstripe appears, Ted’s vision of the devil.
There’s no sudden plot twist or surprise reveal with Mr Pinstripe, though. He’s just a scary guy right from the start, and it’s not long before he kidnaps your daughter and drags her into the icy depths of hell.
Creepy, I know. Now, armed with only your slingshot and your dog George for company, you have to get her back… no matter what.
As mentioned already, I’m not normally a horror game fan, but what really made me want to buy this game in the first place is the insane art style. I mean, just look at the screenshots! Wow. Anywhere you stand in the game, you’ll have a gorgeous rocky and snowy scene with towering trees and cool little mushrooms you can jump around on. I don’t think I need to say anymore about that, just see it for yourself, and you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Not only are the sights of this game amazing, but the sounds are great as well. Each character has their own voice actor, which just adds to the whole experience. The soundtrack is awesome, too. Most of it is incredibly creepy, but occasionally it will seep into being more happy and surprisingly relaxing, which is great for just roaming around and collecting money.
Pinstripe also has a lot of cool mini games and extras. Spot the difference style games and safes you can open by playing a mini game similar to Flappy Bird make an appearance. There are some items, such as a gun to replace your slingshot and a coat for George, that can only be purchased when replaying the game. There’s also a golden key you receive at the end of the game that will give you access to rooms filled with money and the names of Kickstarter backers on your second playthrough, which is a really cool gesture.
The elements of the game are a really nice balance of many things. Pinstripe’s gameplay mostly consists of platforming, jumping across tree branches and through dark caves. However, you can also find a lot of cool puzzles and multiple areas where finding lots of colourful buttons will help you progress. Some areas will test your reflexes, such as a balloon shooting arena and some pretty fiddly locks.
There’s a decent bit of combat, too. Bomb-dropping balloon enemies will float around the map, and there’s even (spoiler alert) a surprise final boss fight with Mr Pinstripe!
To sum it all up, Pinstripe is an excellent game. The art is crazily awesome, the music and voice acting creates a nice eerie atmosphere, the story is unnerving, the mini games are really clever, and it all just fits together perfectly.
Like a gigantic, haunting jigsaw puzzle. It’s nice and short, meaning you can play it all in one sitting, so as not to lose any momentum on the story. I’m really glad I bought this game, as it was a very good use of my money, and I hope you all play Pinstripe too and feel the same way about it.
There is your Nindie Spotlight on Prinstripe! Join us next time for another brief look into the Nintendo Switch’s best Nindie titles. What are some of your favorite indie games? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you for visiting Nintendo Link.
