Vertical shoot 'em ups are Joseph's thing. So a vertical shmup like Ginga Force is like putting on some comfy old slippers for him. You can just watch him get in the zone the moment you drop him into a bullet hell. I wish I had the simultaneous levels of engagement and Zen required to be good at these games, but I don't. Thank goodness we do have someone like Joe around to handle that.
Ginga Force throws storytelling elements into its gameplay, though the vocals are Japanese and I have no idea how a filthy casual like me would have a chance to read the subtitles in the upper right hand corner. But that's beside the point. Yes, you're flying over an Earth-like planet called Seventia. And yes, you're after scarce resources like, uh, Septonium? But the narrative on a game like this is written in the bullets. It's voiced in the missiles. It's talked about via ship's shields, guns, and upgrades. That's how Ginga Force does much of its talking.
Ginga Force is out now on Steam. And as many times as I hear Joe say, "Whoa whoa whoa, what?!" during his gameplay, I also hear him say, "Oh that's cool."
