Gameplay is without a doubt the most important thing for a game to nail, because without that key pillar, all other levels of immersion are completely ruined. You could have the best looking release ever - take The Order: 1886 for example - yet have it fail to deliver on the simplest of gaming tenants, including but not limited to running time and especially game mechanics. Many titles can look beautiful utilising a number of minimalist art styles and cel-shaded looks, so why are older games being dismissed on the basis that they no longer look 'pretty' enough? In that sense, games that are being made today will be deemed obsolete in a few years by a large majority of the community, and whilst it's always impressive to see studios mark a new year with some incredible graphical milestones, it was never - and should never be - the main reason you stay invested in the medium.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
