- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Young Souls has now arrived, and outside of some technical troubles it's looking pretty solid.
If you're in the mood for kicking back and then kicking your way through scores upon scores of goblins beat'em up style, you might want to check out the upcoming Young Souls. It's essentially a side-scrolling brawler mixed with an action RPG, with all of the features you might expect from a hybrid of the two genres.
In other words there's plenty of 2.5D levels to explore, enemies and bosses to clobber over the head with combo moves, as well as weapons, armor and accessories to equip in order to customize your playstyle. And just to help spice things up, Young Souls is fully playable in either singleplayer or shared-screen co-op, so definitely bring a friend along if you're planning to dive in.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: In another pleasant surprise, The Game Bakers' boss-battling action game Furi is getting a brand new character, six years after its launch!
Unlike The Game Bakers' previous game Furi which was all about non-stop action, Haven is more of an exploration focused RPG about a couple stuck on a mysterious planet. There's still plenty of battles to be had, naturally, but also a variety of tricky decisions to make, arguments to work through, and conversations to enjoy.
Given how the relationship between the two main characters is what the entire story revolves around, the Haven team has now released a chunky free update to help expand your options! So depending on your preference, you can now chose between three different configurations: either a woman and a man, two women, or two men.
Risk of Rain 2's Survivors of the Void expansion has arrived with new characters, stages and enemies
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The original Risk of Rain is getting a remaster with new content, improved multiplayer and smoother gameplay.
A fair bit of time has gone by since Risk of Rain 2 first arrived, so if you're itching for some new content to sink your teeth into, you'll be pleased to hear that the very first expansion has now been unleashed! The aptly named Survivors of the Void brings with it two new survivors to play around with (Void Fiend and Railgunner), an assortment of new corrupted items that function in strange and interesting ways, as well as a bunch of new enemies, bosses and elites to fight.
You can also expect to see new stages to explore, new interactibles to poke as you run around from scores of enemies, an alternate ending, and most importantly of all, a brand new game mode - the Simulacrum. The new mode is essentially a beefed up horde mode where you'll have to face off against waves upon waves of enemies, with each major victory giving you access to some sort of upgrade in order to keep things fresh and interesting.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Much like its predecessor FAR: Lone Sails, FAR: Changing Tides is a highly atmospheric adventure game based around maintaining, upgrading and exploring the world with a rusty yet charming vehicle. This time around the vehicle in question will be a boat that is equally capable of sailing through stormy waters and diving into the unknown depths, all the while providing a safe and comfortable home.
As for the actual gameplay, once it arrives this March 1st FAR: Changing Tides will have you navigate the high seas, scrounge for materials and precious fuel, overcome all sorts of puzzles and environmental dangers, and slowly figure out just what your mysterious boat is truly capable of. What this looks like in action, however, that you can check out through one of the trailers below. Have a peek:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Dwarf Fortress' new and improved version has now landed onto Steam, and I'm happy to say that it has done so alongside overwhelmingly positive reviews!.
While Dwarf Fortress is a genuinely impressive game that can churn out amazing stories on a frequent basis, actually playing it is a bit of a nightmare. Besides having to learn its intricacies and figure out how to keep your Dwarves from killing themselves within the first week, you also need to wrangle with the somewhat obtuse graphics and the overwhelming amount of available options, which as you might expect is quite the ordeal.
So in order to make the learning process easier and the visuals far simpler to understand, the Dwarf Fortress team began work on a greatly enhanced Steam version. Quite a lot of time has gone by since then, but I'm happy to say that the full release is now finally coming into view!
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Instead of sticking with tradition and having you fight some sort of gigantic sea monster, the upcoming VR puzzle-adventure Tentacular instead lets you play as the horror from the deep... well, sort of! Tentacular is actually a story about a massive yet kind-hearted tentacle beast trying to figure out its place in the world, which as you might imagine, isn't without its fair share of complications.
Rather than ramble on, allow me to share with you the freshly released announcement trailer. It should clue you in quite nicely on just what Tentacular is trying to accomplish. Have a peek:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
In order to fulfill the very last checkmark left on the roadmap, the Dead Mage team has now unleashed one seemingly final update. As you might guess from the title, the freshly released Fellowship Sanctuary update brings with it one of the most frequently requested new features - online co-op!
The one bit of bad news is that online co-op is currently only available on the Steam version. Work is already underway on getting the other PC and console versions up to par, however, so while no release date has been revealed just yet, rest assured that other platforms have not been ignored.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Now that the gameplay quirks have been sorted out thanks to last year's Afterlife update, the Death's Gambit team has finally decided it is time to unleash the very first expansion - Ashes of Vados. The PC version of Ashes of Vados is already live, while the PlayStation and Switch will be getting their turn at some point in Spring.
As for the actual content, Ashes of Vados brings with it a continuation of the main storyline which will culminate in a challenging boss fight against Ash. Should you succeed, you'll be able to unlock a drastically different and significantly harder version of the encounter called "The Eldritch Hand!" to really help spice things up.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Sifu's August update will be adding even more ways to customize your experience!
[Update]: Sifu is adding a much harder and much easier difficulty mode on May 3rd, 2022.
Sifu is a freshly released martial arts roguelike from Sloclap, the team behind the very punchy Absolver. As you might imagine from that brief description alone, Sifu is all about fighting against the odds, utilizing an assortment of moves and combos to methodically take down all of your opponents, and in true roguelike fashion, slowly getting yourself to the point where you can practically dance through the levels unharmed.
Even if you do get taken down, however, it's not that big of a deal since death is a mere inconvenience in Sifu. Every time you die you will rise again, though older and slightly more fragile than before. So while you do have plenty of chances to exact revenge before you're too old to actually continue, it's still a good idea to preserve your health and face the various bosses as young and healthy as possible.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
OlliOlli World, much like the rest of the series, is a challenging skateboarding platformer that will have you grind across, fly over and slam directly into all sorts of colorful locations. Where OlliOlli World differs greatly from its predecessors, however, is in the visuals and the atmosphere!
The world of Radlandia is an incredibly vibrant and bizarre place filled with banana-men, oversized frog-monsters, sentient piles of trash, and even walking trees that happen to have a penchant for skateboarding. Since words alone can't really do OlliOlli World's setting justice, allow me to share with you one of the gameplay overview trailers. Have a peek: