jericho_cross

This game releases tomorrow but there's a demo you can play on steam right now. It's another top-down roguelike that we see everywhere these days.

It's got a pretty unique game mechanic where during the day you collect resources to unlock items and when the night comes you have to fight off a zombie horde and survive until sunrise. Simple enough gameplay loop, but it's a roguelike so I wasn't expecting it to be too complex. Anyway, there's a demo; give it a try.

I want to start off by saying I haven't played this game. The trailer makes it look like a solid Weird Western though.

I remember watching the trailer for Hunt: Showdown but it looked like the entire game took place in a swamp so I wasn't interested. Since I wasn't paying attention, I'm not sure at what point Hunt: Showdown became Hunt: Showdown 1896 but I don't think they're separate games. As far as I can tell, Hunt: Showdown 1896 replaced Hunt: Showdown and is more of a Western now. But maybe someone else can explain the differences.

Unfortunately, it looks like I might be coming to this game a bit too late because right as I realized it was a Weird West game, it was in the middle of being review-bombed:

So this post isn't so much a recommendation as it is a request for more information. Have any of you played it? Is it good? Does that recent review bombing actually represent the game getting worse?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/594650/Hunt_Showdown_1896/

This looks like your standard "gunslinger shooting demons in the Wild West" setting, but of course that's what I'm here for so I'm ok with it. Also, they called this the "launch" trailer but I'm pretty sure it's actually just a "reveal" trailer since the game isn't out yet. They claim it'll release in Q4 of this year though, so maybe it's close.

Official synopsis:

Altarium is a first-person, asymmetric PVP Co-Op horror game that can be played by 1-5 players together. Players can choose to play as either the victim or the evil character. Get ready, choose your role, shape your destiny, and survive!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2524700/Altarium/

I know I typically define the "weird" in "Weird West" to mean supernatural, but this time I'm just going with straight weird. Also, I've run out of recommendations that would typically fit this genre so now I'm loosening the definition a bit just to keep this Lemmy community (somewhat) active.

You know how you can take a phrase in one language, translate it into another language, and then translate it back to the original language and it's almost what you started with but isn't quite right? Well this movie is taking the Japanese movie Yojimbo, translating it to English as A Fistful Of Dollars and then translating it back into Japanese to be called Sukiyaki Western Django. It's a very strange movie.

The core plot of "two warring gangs in a small Western town being shaken up when a stranger with no allegiance arrives" is still here, but everything is just... strange. And Quentin Tarantino occasionally shows up as the narrator. I struggle with calling this a "good" movie. it definitely knows what it's doing and has its own style, but I'm not entirely sure I understand what they were going for.

Here's a trailer. You can watch it anywhere: Amazon, Peacock, Tubi, Pluto, Kanopy, anywhere.

Oblivion (1994) is a terrible movie. And it technically takes place in the future, which I try not to include as Weird Westerns or else the definition of "Western" becomes a bit vague (I believe Space Western is a separate genre). But this really is just a Western with aliens (they don't go into space), so I'm including it.

Also, this movie has George Takei, and the writers really took advantage of that. They gave him lines like "Jim, Beam me up" while drinking Jim Beam, and "great Scotty!" when surprised. I guess he really needed a paycheck in 1994.

Here's a trailer, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend watching the actual movie. RiffTrax (the guys behind Mystery Science Theater 3000) made their own audio commentary for this movie which makes it bearable. Plus that's the version available on streaming. You can watch the RiffTrax version of Oblivion on Tubi and Pluto. I should mention there's somehow a sequel to Oblivion, called Oblivion: Backlash which also has RiffTrax versions on Tubi and Pluto.

When I watched the trailer Netflix had for RIPD 2, it just showed a clip of the main character in limbo where the RIPD is explained to him. So I just assumed it'd be like the first RIPD where even though Jeff Bridges plays a gunslinger, the movie actually takes place in the modern day. And I ignored this movie. It's not like the original RIPD was any good, why would a low-budget sequel be better?

But, I finally decided to watch RIPD2 and it's totally a Weird Western. The entire movie takes place in the wild west and they're hunting down demons that escaped hell. Here's a trailer that actually shows the movie and not just a single scene like Netflix showed me.

Of course, just because this movie is a Weird Western doesn't mean it's a good movie. Actually, if you look at the other movies I've mentioned in this community, they're almost exclusively bad movies. And this is another dumb one. It's mostly the lame jokes that irritate me. Also, personally, I don't think there were enough "weird" parts in the movie. They're hunting down demons but there actually aren't too many special effects until the last act. So that's disappointing too.

If you're willing to try it, the movie is still available to watch on Netflix. And maybe Apple TV+.

This movie is from 2020 yet I've never heard of it. And it looks like it perfectly fits my definition of a Weird West too. I have no idea if this movie is any good but I still wanted to share. It looks like it's streaming on Hoopla and Shudder if you have either of those.

This is a VR-only game so I haven't tried it but the trailer makes it look like a Weird West game for anyone interested. There's also a demo available during Steam Next Fest.

I'll be honest with you, I don't play D&D and don't fully understand if this new class is "official" in any way. I just like the artwork and the name Spellslinger so I figured I'd post it here.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/482150/Pandemonium-Spellslinger--DD-5e-Sorcerer-Subclass

Ninjas wouldn't usually be considered "weird" enough for a Weird Western but this is a highly-stylized movie where the ninjas can basically fly. They might as well be mythical creatures given how ridiculously they're portrayed here.

Of course, like most movies I've mentioned here, this isn't a good movie. So lower any expectations. It takes a while to get started and basically the first half of the movie is "slice of life" as the main character settles into his new life. Also, there's something weird with the lighting where I can't tell if the entire movie was filmed on a sound stage or if all the backgrounds are cgi (probably both).

Here's a trailer. You can watch it on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Vudu, and Plex.

According to the synopsis, this game is a "Wild West-themed roguelite FPS" where you play as a "gunslinger in limbo, involved in a gritty war against "The Cartel", a ruthless organization harvesting souls to break free of the shackles of the afterlife." So that sounds like a Weird West to me!

Just from watching the video, I wasn't sure if it'd be a Weird West or not. Some of the architecture looks Western but other parts just look like ancient ruins. It's weird how the architecture is the deciding factor here, since there's also the game Witchfire which looks to have the same game mechanic of casting spells with a gun. But Witchfire definitely uses more European/Medieval architecture in their level design. So Witchfire doesn't appear to be a Weird Western to me. Yet given the synopsis for Soulslinger, I'll say that one is a Weird Western. It's weird where I draw the line.

Anyway, Soulslinger is in Early Access on Steam and Witchfire is in Early Access on the Epic Games Store.

In the pinned post on this community I said I was no expert on the genre and just a casual fan who wanted to share the few Weird West works I've found. I tried to drag this out as long as I could and keep the community active by only posting one thing each day but I've finally run out of things to post. You're still welcome to post here if you want, but I expect this community will just sit idle with no one actively trying to post content anymore.

I could try posting random things that almost kind of look Weird West, but I'd rather not. Otherwise, I'll end up posting things like Priest. Priest takes place in a cyberpunk future dominated by the Catholic church and under constant threat of vampire attacks. But if you leave the cyberpunk city, suddenly it's the Wild West. There's no explanation given as to why everyone dresses and talks like it's the Wild West as soon as you leave the futuristic cyberpunk city. But Karl Urban plays the villain, a vampire named Black Hat. So that's pretty great.

It's a fun movie as long as you don't question anything. And it's a Weird West as long as you ignore all the cyberpunk stuff. See, that's the best I've got and it's a quite a stretch.

If I come across any other Weird West content I'll be sure to post it here, but I'm not going to force myself to come up with something every day. I just wanted to make this post to let everyone know this community is about to get a lot quieter. Thanks!